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The Grands Boulevards are the quintessence of the Parisian boulevards. Their origin is a plan initiated by Louis XIV's minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert in the late 1660s, of comprehensive reforms and remodeling of Paris. Aside of the demilitarization of the former city walls and their replacement with a ring of Grands Boulevards, started in 1670, [1] : 126 the plan included the establishment of the Lieutenant général de police in 1667; the destruction of all gates of the ancient Wall of Philip II Augustus on the left bank, started in 1673 and completed in 1783; [1] : 134 the unification of professional regulations in the city and its outskirts (French : faubourgs in 1673; [1] : 134 the termination of lingering feudal authority over criminal justice in a number of mostly ecclesiastical enclaves that was transferred to the king's Grand Châtelet in 1674; [1] : 134 and the erection or refurbishment of monumental gates on key intersections, namely the Porte Saint-Antoine in 1671, the Porte Saint-Bernard , the Porte Saint-Denis in 1672-1673, the Porte Saint-Martin in 1674, and a massive triumphal arch to be erected on what is now the Place de la Nation, started in the 1670s but abandoned around 1680 and whose unfinished structures were eventually demolished in 1716. [1] : 138–139
If defined by that historic origin, the expression "Grands Boulevards" should only follow the thoroughfares along the former Wall of Charles V and Wall of Louis XIII on the right bank, namely the Boulevard Beaumarchais, Boulevard des Filles-du-Calvaire, Boulevard du Temple, Boulevard Saint-Martin, Boulevard Saint-Denis, Boulevard de Bonne-Nouvelle, Boulevard Poissonnière, Boulevard Montmartre, Boulevard des Italiens, Boulevard des Capucines and Boulevard de la Madeleine. However, Parisian habit also includes Boulevard Haussmann, with its department stores Printemps and Galeries Lafayette, among the quintessential Grands Boulevards. The later opening of other major arteries such as Boulevard Richard-Lenoir and Avenue de la République has further reduced the salience of the original Grand Boulevards in the Paris topography.
The idea of the boulevard as a centre for leisure asserted itself during the 18th century, when numerous théâtres de la foire set up near the Porte Saint-Martin. The boulevard du Temple became affectionately known as "boulevard du Crime" during Bourbon Restoration, an allusion to the criminal acts portrayed there by stage actors. According to the Almanach des Spectacles, "Tautin was stabbed 16,302 times, Marti poisoned 11,000 times, Fresnoy set on fire 27,000 times in countless ways..., Mademoiselle Adèle Dupuis was seduced, kidnapped or drowned 75,000 times". [2]
Although the "boulevard du Crime" fell victim to Haussmann's transformation, the boulevardier spirit lives on in "théâtre de boulevard".
From 1784 to 1791, Ledoux built the Wall of the Farmers-General, with boulevards running along its exterior. This wall was built to collect the octroi, a tax on goods entering the city which was hated by Parisians. Although it was almost completely razed by Haussman in 1860 as part of his transformation of Paris, some parts remain. The surviving boulevards were subject to urban planners' failed attempts in the 1950s to transform them into urban freeways.
Haussmann's renovation of Paris brought the boulevard to the heart of Paris, whereas they had hitherto been limited to uninhabited or sparsely inhabited zones. Le boulevard, whose initial function was to go around the capital, became structural urban thoroughfares.
The boulevards from Haussmann and before now define Paris, with uniform façades and overhanging balconies stretching along them. These are immediately recognisable, and are under the strict control of Paris' urban planners.
The demolition of the Thiers wall during the 1920s allowed for the creation of a third ring of boulevards surrounding the city. These new boulevards were named after the Marshals of the First French Empire, and are collectively called the Boulevards of the Marshals. They run just inside the city limits.
In addition, the Boulevard Périphérique, the beltway surrounding Paris, was built on the site of the ruins of the Thiers wall, a short distance 'outboard' from the Boulevards of the Marshals. However, it is more like a motorway than a boulevard. Île-de-France tramway Lines 3a and 3b run along the Boulevards of the Marshals, nearly encircling Paris since 3b opened in December 2010, on the sixth anniversary of the opening of 3a along the southern section.
The boulevards provided the setting for Maupassant's Bel Ami . Fred Astaire took to the boulevards in Funny Face (1957).
Georges-Eugène Haussmann, commonly known as Baron Haussmann, was a French official who served as prefect of Seine (1853–1870), chosen by Emperor Napoleon III to carry out a massive urban renewal programme of new boulevards, parks and public works in Paris commonly referred to as Haussmann's renovation of Paris.
The Boulevard Périphérique, often called the Périph, is a limited-access dual-carriageway ring road in Paris, France. With a few exceptions, it is situated along Paris's administrative limit.
Porte de la Villette is a station of the Paris Métro. The origin of the commune of the Villette was a Gallo-Roman village, which grew up on the Roman road that led to eastern Flanders. About 1198, it became Ville Neuve Saint-Ladre and by 1426 it was called Villette-Saint-Miser-lez-Paris. The commune became a part of Paris in 1860. The nearby gate in Paris' 19th century walls hence became known as the Porte de la Villette.
The Avenue de l'Opéra was created from 1864 to 1879 as part of Haussmann's renovation of Paris. It is situated in the center of the city, running northwest from the Louvre to the Palais Garnier, the primary opera house of Paris.
The RATP bus network covers the entire territory of the city of Paris and the vast majority of its near suburbs. Operated by the Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP), this constitutes a dense bus network complementary to other public transport networks, all organized and financed by Île-de-France Mobilités.
Haussmann's renovation of Paris was a vast public works programme commissioned by French Emperor Napoleon III and directed by his prefect of the Seine, Georges-Eugène Haussmann, between 1853 and 1870. It included the demolition of medieval neighbourhoods that were deemed overcrowded and unhealthy by officials at the time, the building of wide avenues, new parks and squares, the annexation of the suburbs surrounding Paris, and the construction of new sewers, fountains and aqueducts. Haussmann's work was met with fierce opposition, and he was dismissed by Napoleon III in 1870. Work on his projects continued until 1927. The street plan and distinctive appearance of the centre of Paris today are largely the result of Haussmann's renovation.
The quartier du Petit-Montrouge is number 55 of the 80 quartiers administratifs in Paris. It lies in the 14th Arrondissement, in the south of the capital. It owes its name to the adjacent commune of Montrouge, of which it formed a part before 1860. It is familiar as the quartier Alésia, from the name of a street that bisects it and from the principal Métro station that serves it, although the quartier Alésia does not exactly overlap the quartier du Petit-Montrouge.
Île-de-France tramway lines 3a and 3b are the first modern tramway in Paris proper since the 1937 closure of the previous comparable system. They are operated by the RATP and divided into two sections called T3a and T3b. The line is also known as the Tramway des Maréchaux because it follows the Boulevards of the Marshals, a series of boulevards that encircle Paris along the route of the former Thiers Wall. The boulevards are, with three exceptions, named for Napoleon's First Empire marshals (maréchaux); they were transformed by redevelopment works carried out during the two-and-a-half-year construction of the line, which opened on 16 December 2006 under the designation T3.
The Porte Saint-Martin is a Parisian monument located at the site of one of the gates of the now-destroyed fortifications of Paris. It is located at the crossing of the Rue Saint-Martin, the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin and the grands boulevards Boulevard Saint-Martin and Boulevard Saint-Denis.
The Boulevard de Sébastopol is an important roadway in Paris, France, which serves to delimit the 1st and 2nd arrondissements from the 3rd and 4th arrondissements of the city.
The Boulevards of the Marshals are a collection of thoroughfares that encircle the city of Paris, France, just inside its city limits. Most bear the name of a marshal of the First French Empire (1804–1814) who served under Napoleon I. The Île-de-France tramway Lines 3a and 3b today run on the Boulevards of the Marshals.
The Place de la Nation is a circle on the eastern side of Paris, between the Place de la Bastille and the Bois de Vincennes, on the border of the 11th and 12th arrondissements. Widely known for having the most active guillotines during the Revolution, the square acquired its current name on Bastille Day, 14 July 1880, under the Third Republic.
Porte de Clichy station is a station on Line 13 and Line 14 of the Paris Métro and RER C, as well as a stop on Île-de-France tramway Line 3b. Located in the 17th arrondissement, the Métro station is situated on the northwestern branch of Line 13, under the Avenue de Clichy. It serves the Tribunal de grande instance de Paris. The station is named after the Porte de Clichy, a gate in the nineteenth century Thiers wall of Paris, which led to Clichy.
The city walls of Paris refers to the city walls that surrounded Paris, as it grew from ancient times until the 20th century, built primarily to defend the city but also for administrative reasons. Several successive city walls were built over the centuries, either adding to existing walls or replacing demolished ones, through 1846, when construction of the Thiers wall was completed.
The wall of Charles V, built from 1356 to 1383 is one of the city walls of Paris built on orders granted by Charles V of France. It was built on the right bank of the river Seine outside the wall of Philippe Auguste. In the 1640s, the western part of the wall of Charles V was demolished and replaced by the larger Louis XIII wall, with the demolished material reused for the new wall. This new enclosure (enceinte) was completely destroyed in the 1670s and was replaced by the Grands Boulevards.
The Thiers wall was the last of the defensive walls of Paris. It was an enclosure constructed between 1841 and 1846 and was proposed by the French prime minister Adolphe Thiers but was actually implemented by his successor. The 33 kilometres (21 mi) long wall and ditch made a complete circuit around the city as it stood at the time of the July Monarchy. It was bombarded by the Prussian Army during the Franco-Prussian War, captured by government troops during the Paris Commune and refortified at the start of the First World War. However, by then it had become obsolete as a fortification and was a barrier to the expansion of the city. The area immediately outside of it, known as "the zone", had become a shanty town. The wall was demolished in the interwar period; its path today can be traced by the Boulevards of the Marshals which originally ran just behind the fortifications and by the Boulevard Périphérique which was later built just outside. A few remnants of the wall can still be seen.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Paris:
The Boulevard Mortier is a boulevard in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, France. It is one of the Boulevards of the Marshals, which circle the outer parts of the city.
The Boulevard Lefebvre is a boulevard in the Saint-Lambert quarter in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, France. It is one of the Boulevards of the Marshals, which run in the outer parts of the city.
The Boulevard Soult is a boulevard in the Bel-Air neighborhood in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, France. It is one of the Boulevards of the Marshals that run in the outer parts of the city.
Media related to Boulevards in Paris at Wikimedia Commons
