Place du Préau

The two-storey palace was flanked by the collegiate church of Saint-Etienne - administered by a chapter of 60 canons. On the upper level, a tribune enabled the counts to attend services. The former gardens of the Saint-Etienne cloister were located on today's Quai La Fontaine.
To the south of the palace was the Préau aux duels, where in the Middle Ages legal battles, still known as judicial duels, were held. In the absence of witnesses or confessions, the two disputing parties would fight in single combat (each represented by a champion). The winner was considered to be the one appointed by God to be the rightful person for the litigants. The place kept its name...

During the French Revolution, the Palais des Comtes de Champagne was partially dismembered. It was definitively destroyed in 1806, transformed into a "port au bois" following the creation of the Haute-Seine canal, and finally laid out as a garden in 1900.

The garden on Place du Préau is ideal for a short break overlooking the canal.