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In the middle ages, this square was a garden with fruit trees, vegetables and herbs. In 1656 Pierre Aubert de Fontenay, a farmer who'd made his fortune from a salt tax, built the fabulous Hôtel Salé next to it and let it to the Venetian Ambassador. Taken over by revolutionaries, the Hôtel became a depository for the libraries of neighbouring convents before being taken over by the Mairie de Paris. The garedn was given the name of 20th century surrealist painter Léonor Fini.