The boulevard des Italiens is a boulevard in

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 ...

. It is one of the '

Grands Boulevards The Boulevards of Paris are boulevards which form an important part of the urban landscape of Paris. The boulevards were constructed in several phases by central government initiative as infrastructure improvements, but are very much associated w ...

' in

, a chain of boulevards built through the former course of the

Wall of Charles V The wall of Charles V, built from 1356 to 1383 is one of the city walls of Paris. 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 r ...

and the

Louis XIII Wall The city walls of Paris ( French: ''enceintes de Paris'' or ''murs de Paris'') refers to the city walls that surrounded Paris, France, as it grew from ancient times until the 20th century, built primarily to defend the city but also for adminis ...

, which were destroyed by the orders of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

. The origin of the name is the théâtre des Italiens built on it in 1783, shortly before the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

on the site now occupied by the third

Salle Favart The Salle Favart, officially the Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique, is a Paris opera house and theatre, the current home of the Opéra-Comique. It was built from 1893 to 1898 in a neo-Baroque style to the designs of the French architect Louis Bernie ...

History

The boulevard's former names were: *''boulevard Neuf'' (= New boulevard) *''boulevard du Dépôt'' (boulevard of the barrack), because of a barrack installed in 1764 on the corner of

rue de la Chaussée-d'Antin This "quartier" of Paris got its name from the rue de la Chaussée-d'Antin in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. It runs north-northwest from the Boulevard des Italiens to the Église de la Sainte-Trinité. In the 17th century the ''chemin des Po ...

*''boulevard de la Chaussée-d'Antin'' *''boulevard Cerutti'' with the name of an hôtel on the boulevard (during the French Revolution) *''le petit Coblence'' ("little Koblenz") after 1795, since many émigrés returning to France during the

French Directory The Directory (also called Directorate, ) was the governing five-member committee in the French First Republic from 2 November 1795 until 9 November 1799, when it was overthrown by Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte in the Coup of 18 Brumaire and r ...

gathered on it (

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

had been a popular exile destination for them) *''boulevard de Gand'', on one side of the boulevard, under the second Bourbon Restoration, from 1815 to 1828 in memory of

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

's exile in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

during the

Hundred Days The Hundred Days (french: les Cent-Jours ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration ...

. Throughout the 19th century the boulevard was a meeting place for the elegant elite of Paris (a role that lasted until the First World War). It was to replace ''

Muscadin The term Muscadin (), meaning "wearing musk perfume", came to refer to mobs of young men, relatively well-off and dressed in a dandyish manner, who were the street fighters of the Thermidorian Reaction in Paris in the French Revolution (1789-17 ...

s'' and ''

Merveilleuses The Incroyables (, "incredibles") and their female counterparts, the Merveilleuses (, "marvelous women"), were members of a fashionable aristocratic subculture in Paris during the French Directory (1795–1799). Whether as catharsis or in a need ...

'' at the time of the

Directoire The Directory (also called Directorate, ) was the governing five-member committee in the French First Republic from 2 November 1795 until 9 November 1799, when it was overthrown by Napoleon Bonaparte in the Coup of 18 Brumaire and replaced by ...

, ''Gandins'' at the Restauration, ''

Dandies A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle desp ...

'' during the reign of Louis-Philippe 1st, women in ''

crinoline A crinoline is a stiff or structured petticoat designed to hold out a woman's skirt, popular at various times since the mid-19th century. Originally, crinoline described a stiff fabric made of horsehair ("crin") and cotton or linen which was ...

s'' during the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

. That time was also a major epoque for several famous ''Cafés'': Café de Paris, café Tortoni (the

café Tortoni The Café Tortoni is a coffeehouse located at 825 Avenida de Mayo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Inaugurated in 1858 by a French immigrant whose surname was Touan, it was named ''Tortoni'' after the Parisian café of the same name located on ''Boulev ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

takes its name from that in Paris), café Frascati, café Français, Maison dorée among others. Upon completion of

boulevard Haussmann Boulevard Haussmann, long from the 8th to the 9th arrondissement, is one of the wide tree-lined boulevards created in Paris by Napoleon III, under the direction of his Prefect of the Seine, Baron Haussmann. The Boulevard Haussmann is mostly l ...

in the 1920s these establishments disappeared to be replaced by other buildings, particularly financial ones.

Notable places

At the junction with

rue Laffitte Rue Laffitte is a street in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, located near the Metro stations Richelieu - Drouot and Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. This street was created in 1771 between the Boulevard des Italiens and the Rue de Provence. Its original ...

, a nice view of the Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre, which seems to be placed on the top of the Church Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, whereas it is actually more distant. Edouard Manet 029

* at n° 8, the

Théâtre Robert-Houdin The Théâtre Robert-Houdin, initially advertised as the Théâtre des Soirées Fantastiques de Robert-Houdin, was a Paris theatre dedicated primarily to the performance of stage illusions. Founded by the famous magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdi ...

, founded by the magician

Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * J ...

and, in 1888, purchased and directed by

Georges Méliès Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès (; ; 8 December 1861 – 21 January 1938) was a French illusionist, actor, and film director. He led many technical and narrative developments in the earliest days of cinema. Méliès was well known for the use of ...

. * At n° 13, the site of the former Café Anglais (1802-1913), well known restaurant of the Second Empire, replaced by a building in the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

style. * At n° 16, the site of the former Café Riche (1791). * At n° 19,

Crédit Lyonnais headquarters The Crédit Lyonnais headquarters (the headquarters of the French bank Crédit Lyonnais, now LCL) is a Haussmannian style building located in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. It is on the block formed by the Boulevard des Italiens, the rue de ...

, built from 1876 to 1913 in the

Haussmann Hausmann is a German word with former meanings "householder" and "freeholder" and current meaning "house-husband." Hausmann (Hausman), Haussmann (Haussman), Haußmann, Hauszmann, etc. are German-origin surnames that may refer to: Hausmann * C ...

style. * At n° 20, the site of the former luxury restaurant La Maison dorée (the Golden House) (1839-1841). Now the headquarters of the bank

BNP Paribas BNP Paribas is a French international banking group, founded in 2000 from the merger between Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP, "National Bank of Paris") and Paribas, formerly known as the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas. The full name of the grou ...

, designed by

Joseph Marrast Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, which retained the original facade (example of

facadism Facadism, façadism, or façadomy is the architectural and construction practice where the facade of a building is designed or constructed separately from the rest of a building, or when only the facade of a building is preserved with new buil ...

). * At n° 22, the site of the former Café Tortoni de Paris. * At n° 26, the site of the former Café de Bade. * At n° 36, a building created in 1929 by

Michel Roux-Spitz Michel Roux-Spitz (13 June 1888 – 15 July 1957) was a French architect. Life Roux-Spitz was born 13 June 1888 in Lyon. The son of an architect, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts, Lyon in the studio of Tony Garnier and then became a stud ...

. The ground floor was used as showroom for vehicles by the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

. Now, it is a fast food restaurant. At the corner of rue de la Chaussée d'Antin was the Dépôt des Gardes-françaises (French Guards' barracks) built by the colonel Duke of Biron in 1764. It gave the name of the boulevard for some years. On 12 July 1789, a platoon of the guards saved his colonel, Duchâtelet, from popular riots.Le boulevard des Italiens on the website paris-pittoresque.com
/ref> At the corner of rue Louis-le-Grand,

Palais Berlitz The Palais Berlitz, also known as Palais de Hanovre, is an office building built in Paris in the 1930s on a block formed by the Boulevard des Italiens, the , the and the rue du Hanovre. It was built to replace the Pavillon de Hanovre, which w ...

, built in the style of the 1930s in place of the

Pavillon de Hanovre The Palais Berlitz, also known as Palais de Hanovre, is an office building built in Paris in the 1930s on a block formed by the Boulevard des Italiens, the , the and the rue du Hanovre. It was built to replace the Pavillon de Hanovre, which w ...

of the 18th century, which was disassembled and rebuilt in the park of Sceaux.

References

External links

*
Boulevard des Italiens
on ''le site du Paris Pitoresque''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boulevard Des Italiens 2nd arrondissement of Paris 9th arrondissement of Paris Italiens