Less than a kilometer separates the Louvre, which once housed throne rooms, from Grève Square, which has served as a public execution site for many centuries.
And this almost kilometer is literally filled not just with historically significant buildings, but with entire neighborhoods, more or less known to the Russian reader from French literature…
The Palais-Royal is known from the events of the novel “Ten Years Later,” when Anna of Austria and her son, the future Louis XIV, lived here. “Palais” means “palace,” and “Royal” means “royal.” It was during this time that Mazarin built his palace nearby to be closer to the queen. Under Louis XIV, following Mazarin, other nobles built their residences around.
On the neighboring street lives Molière, who creates the Comédie-Française, the building of which still adjoins the Palais-Royal today. In the 18th century, the Orléans, the younger branch of the Bourbons, who owned the Palais-Royal, created a complex of majestic buildings here, where the most expensive Parisian apartments for rent are located. The entire Parisian aristocracy of the 18th century can be seen strolling along the colonnades and fountains, sitting in fashionable tea rooms and restaurants. The aristocracy is replaced by revolutionaries, and they by the Directory. Here is Napoleon’s favorite restaurant, the shop where Charlotte Corday bought the knife to kill Marat. Who hasn’t strolled and sat here!
Place de Victoires. One of the five royal squares of Paris. Once, magicians and alchemists settled around it. Today, boutiques occupy the buildings designed by Mansart (the creator of Versailles and Place Vendôme). In the center of the square stands an equestrian statue of the king. The palace of Louis XIV’s son looks out over the square, next to it is Mazarin’s palace.
The Belly of Paris (Les Halles). This is what the largest central Parisian market, which originated in the 13th century, came to be called. By the 19th century, it occupied a vast area where everything that exists in the world could be bought 24 hours a day. It was around it that the famous Courts of Miracles were located – the dens of Paris’s underbelly, before which, returning home from work in the evening, the blind regained their sight, the hunchbacks straightened up, and the lepers were healed… And in the morning they returned to their ugly forms and found themselves in the same place, begging for alms. There were also restaurants with rooms for love…
In the 60s, a beautiful square was created here, and beneath it, a multi-story underground store was built – with streets, a cinema, a swimming pool, greenhouses, a gym, and parking. Under this huge city is the largest underground road interchange in Paris, the city and suburban metro. In the square is a unique modern sculpture, the Church of St. Eustache – the site of the first communion of the Sun King, the most original sundial in Paris, and the remnants of the palace where Catherine de’ Medici moved from the Louvre, the former Stock Exchange built by Napoleon.
Right here is the Montorgueil district – a real village in the center of Paris, with streets where cars do not drive, with little restaurants preserving 19th-century signs… The Centre Pompidou – one of the most controversial buildings in Paris. It resembles an oil refinery more than anything else. Inside is a gallery of 20th-century art, magnificent views of Paris, a huge library, and a very good restaurant. In front of the building are magicians and jugglers. A unique fountain with surreal, moving figures – characters from Stravinsky’s children’s operas.
Grève Square (Place de Grève) – here, from century to century, executions took place. Now the square has changed. It is adorned with one of the most beautiful buildings in Paris – the City Hall. Its buildings have replaced each other over the centuries, embodying the confrontations between the people and the king. A confrontation in which, after centuries of struggle, the Republic emerged victorious…
