Belleville () was a French

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

(municipality) in the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'', lying immediately east of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It was one of four communes entirely annexed by the city of Paris in 1860. Its territory is now shared by the 19th and 20th arrondissements, but a neighborhood has retained its name: the ''quartier de Belleville''. The village was built on and around a hill, the second highest of the French capital after

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

. The composer and conductor

Jules Pillevesse Jules François Firmin Pillevestre (real name: Pillevesse) (11 November 1837 – 27 June 1903) was a 19th-century French composer and conductor. Biography The son of François Pillevesse and Marguerite Bérard, Jules Pillevesse was born in Bel ...

(1837–1903) was born in Belleville.

History

The area was inhabited for many years by people who worked the local quarries, vintners and other merchants. A commune was created in 1789. Its name is derived from ''belle vue'' (literally "beautiful view") and its territory extended to what is today the

Parc des Buttes Chaumont The Parc des Buttes Chaumont () is a public park situated in northeastern Paris, France, in the 19th arrondissement. Occupying , it is the fifth-largest park in Paris, after the Bois de Vincennes, Bois de Boulogne, Parc de la Villette and Tuile ...

and the

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figures ...

. The population increased dramatically in the first half of the 19th century and

Baron Haussmann Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

decided to incorporate it into Paris. 20th arrondissement of Paris Belleville, Paris {{Paris-geo-stub