Connetable Square

The square in front of St Michael’s Castle was named after a square with a statue of Connetable Anne de Montmorency in Chantilly (1567), which Paul I visited during his European tour. The word connetable (Latin: comes stabuli; French: comte de l’etable) referred to a court position in the Eastern Roman Empire, commander-in-chief of the army (from mid-twelfth century) and head of the royal stables in France. Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli’s equestrian statue of Peter the Great (1745–47) was installed on the square (1800).