Boulevard Malesherbes is a
boulevard
A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway.
Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls.
In American usage, boulevards may ...
in central
Paris, France
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...
, running northwest between the
Church of the Madeleine
, other name =
, native_name =
, native_name_lang = French
, image = Madeleine Paris.jpg
, landscape =
, imagesize =
, caption =
, imagelink ...
in the
8th arrondissement, and the Porte d'Asnières in the
17th arrondissement
The 17th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ''le dix-septième'' (; "the seventeenth").
The arrondissement, known as Batignoll ...
. It is one of the streets created during the
renovations of Paris undertaken by the Prefect of the Seine,
Georges-Eugene Haussmann, in the 1850s and 1860s.
History
The creation of the Boulevard Malesherbes was first decreed by
Napoléon I
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
in 1808, as part of his reconfiguration of the area around the Madeleine. A second artery was judged necessary in order to create balance with the rue de la Madeleine to the east of the Madeleine. The two streets branch off of the
Rue Royale
Rue Royale (French for "Royal Street") may refer to several streets:
*Rue Royale, Brussels, Belgium
* Rue Royale, Lyon, France
*Rue Royale, Paris, France
See also
*Royal Street, New Orleans Royal Street (french: Rue Royale; es, Calle Real) is a ...
at angles and form an emplacement for the Madeleine.
It is named in honor of
Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes
Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes (, 6 December 1721 – 22 April 1794), often referred to as Malesherbes or Lamoignon-Malesherbes, was a French statesman and minister in the Ancien Régime, and later counsel for the defense of Lou ...
, a minister and official under
Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...
and
Louis XVI
Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
who was executed by guillotine during the Revolution.
Only a rudimentary street was formed near the Madeleine;
in 1852 the city resurrected the plans in order to ease the traffic between the Madeleine and the Monceau barrier. The plans were again put on hold as Paris prepared for the
Exposition Universelle in 1855.
In 1858, the Prefect of the Seine,
Georges-Eugene Haussmann, entered into an agreement with the government of
Napoléon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
over a program of public works for Paris. The fourth paragraph of the treaty signed between the two parties provided specifically for the creation of the Boulevard Malesherbes.
In 1860, the city reached an agreement with a group of private developers in order to extend the boulevard beyond the
Parc Monceau
Parc Monceau () is a public park situated in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, at the junction of Boulevard de Courcelles, Rue de Prony and Rue Georges Berger. At the main entrance is a rotunda. The park covers an area of 8.2 hectares (20 ...
. This group surrendered 82,625 square meters of land to the city, allowing it to build the Boulevard Malesherbes, avenue de Villiers,
Avenue de Wagram
Avenue de Wagram is a street in the 8th and 17th arrondissements of Paris, extending from the Place de Wagram to the Place Charles de Gaulle (formerly ''Place de l'Étoile'', and the site of the Arc de Triomphe). It is long and wide, and is di ...
,
Place de Wagram
Place de Wagram is a square in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, at the junction of Boulevard Malesherbes, Boulevard Pereire and Avenue de Wagram
Avenue de Wagram is a street in the 8th and 17th arrondissements of Paris, extending from the ...
, and Place Pereire.
The city, in turn, agreed to sell two thirds of the former royal park to the developers. With the Boulevard Malesherbes, the consortium of developers gained a direct artery into the most fashionable parts of Paris for their new development.
The angle of the street shifted slightly to the west at its intersection with
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 ...
and
Rue de la Pépinière to head in the direction of the Parc Monceau and the Porte d'Asnières.
At this intersection,
Victor Baltard
Victor Baltard (9 June 180513 January 1874) was a French architect famed for work in Paris including designing Les Halles market and the Saint-Augustin church.
Life
Victor was born in Paris, son of architect Louis-Pierre Baltard and attended Lyc ...
designed the Church of
Saint-Augustin to fit onto a small site, so that its dome was on axis with the Boulevard Malesherbes and the Avenue de Friedland.
Unlike the previous works undertaken by the Haussmann administration, which had affected working class and poor areas of the city, the Boulevard Malesherbes was controversial because it passed through the St. Honoré neighborhood, bisecting some of Paris's most exclusive streets (the rue de la Ville-l'Évêque, the rue Lavoisier, and the rue de Rumfort). This required the expropriation and demolition of numerous mansions in its path. A hill with a densely built slum on top of it, known as the ''Petite Pologne'', was also leveled to make way for the boulevard. In all, 84 houses were demolished to make way for the Boulevard Malesherbes. Construction had barely begun at the beginning of 1861, but proceeded at a feverish pace in advance of the inauguration that August. 300,000 cubic meters of earth were removed, the expropriated structures demolished, the surface of the road laid, trees planted, and street lamps installed within this time period. By the time of the inauguration, 114 new buildings had gone up along the boulevard.
The opening of the boulevard on August 13, 1861, was "the great event of the year".
The whole route was lined with banners hung from masts, festoons, and shields. Emperor Napoléon III and the
Empress Eugénie
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...
drove down the boulevard in an open carriage, flanked on either side of the street by rows of troops and soldiers stretching from the Madeleine to the old outer boulevards. The Boulevard Malesherbes immediately became a fashionable address for Parisians.
Notable residents
* The author
Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...
lived at 107 Boulevard Malesherbes in the 1860s.
*9, Boulevard Malesherbes was the home of
Marcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel ''In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous Eng ...
and his family from 1873 until 1900.
* The artists
Ernest Meissonnier
Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier (; 21 February 181531 January 1891) was a French Classicist painter and sculptor famous for his depictions of Napoleon, his armies and military themes. He documented sieges and manoeuvres and was the teacher of Éd ...
and
Edouard Detaille both took up residence on Boulevard Malesherbes in 1874.
* Boulevard Malesherbes was home to a number of famous hostesses who held
salons for the artistic community of Paris in the late 19th century. The salon of
Juliette Adam
Juliette Adam (; née Lambert; 4 October 1836 – 23 August 1936) was a French author and feminist.
Life and career
Juliette Adam was born in Verberie (Oise). She gave an account of her childhood, rendered unhappy by the dissensions of he ...
was at 190, Boulevard Malesherbes, that of Madame de Saint-Marceaux at No. 100.
* The famous courtesan
Valtesse de la Bigne
Émilie-Louise Delabigne, known as countess Valtesse de La Bigne (1848, in Paris – 29 July 1910, in Ville-d'Avray) was a French courtesan and demi-mondaine. Though born to a working-class family in Paris, she rose through the social ranks and ...
lived in a mansion built for her by the Prince de Sagan at 98, Boulevard Malesherbes. From there she hosted a salon known as the "Union of Painters".
Émile Zola
Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...
modelled the bedroom of his courtesan character ''
Nana
Nana, Nanna, Na Na or NANA may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Nana (given name), including a list of people and characters with the given name
* Nana (surname), including a list of people and characters with the surname
* Nana ( ...
'' after de la Bigne's own bedroom in the Boulevard Malesherbes mansion.
* The composer
Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...
lived at No. 154 from 1886 to 1911.
* In 1909,
Coco Chanel
Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, c ...
set up a studio in a bachelor pad lent to her by her lover
Boy Capel
Arthur Edward Capel CBE (December 1881 – 22 December 1919), known as Boy Capel, was an English polo player, possibly best-remembered for being a lover and muse of fashion designer Coco Chanel.
Biography
Born in Brighton, Sussex, Capel ...
at 160, Boulevard Malesherbes.
* The writer
Françoise Sagan
Françoise Sagan (born Françoise Delphine Quoirez; 21 June 1935 – 24 September 2004) was a French playwright, novelist, and screenwriter. Sagan was known for works with strong romantic themes involving wealthy and disillusioned bourgeois char ...
lived in No. 167 during her youth. She wrote ''
Bonjour Tristesse'' there during the summer of 1953.
Notable landmarks
*
Saint-Augustin, Paris
The Église Saint-Augustin de Paris (Church of St. Augustine) is a Roman Catholic church located at 46 boulevard Malesherbes in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. The church was built between 1860 and 1871 by the Paris city chief architect Victor Bal ...
is at 46, Boulevard Malesherbes. Designed by
Victor Baltard
Victor Baltard (9 June 180513 January 1874) was a French architect famed for work in Paris including designing Les Halles market and the Saint-Augustin church.
Life
Victor was born in Paris, son of architect Louis-Pierre Baltard and attended Lyc ...
, this church was built on the site of the former slum of the "Petite Pologne".
* Since 1927, the
École Normale de Musique de Paris
The École Normale de Musique de Paris "Alfred Cortot" (ENMP) is a leading conservatoire located in Paris, Île-de-France, France. At the time of the school's foundation in 1919 by Auguste Mangeot, Alfred Cortot. The term ''école normale'' (Engl ...
, one of France's most prestigious music conservatories, has been established at No. 114.
* The Hôtel Cail at 56, Boulevard Malesherbes houses the ''
Mairie
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
'' (town hall) annex of the 8th arrondissement and a
Tribunal d'instance
In France, the ''Tribunal d'instance'' (literally "Court of First Instance") is a judicial lower court of record of first instance for general civil suits and includes a criminal division, the Police Court (''tribunal de police''), which hears case ...
.
* The Consulate General of Spain is located at 165, Boulevard Malesherbes.
* The
Sorbonne University
Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon ...
has a location, called the Malesherbes Campus, on the boulevard.
* The
Lycée Carnot
The Lycée Carnot is a Public school (government funded), public secondary school, secondary and higher education school at 145 Boulevard Malesherbes in the XVIIe arrondissement, 17th arrondissement, Paris, France. The Lycée Carnot was founded in ...
is located at 145, Boulevard Malesherbes.
Transport
Boulevard Malesherbes is served by the
Paris Metro
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. Sin ...
Line 3 station of
Malesherbes, at 48 avenue de Villiers.
It is also close to the Métro stations of
Madeleine and
Saint-Augustin.
References
External links
*{{commons category-inline
Malesherbes, boulevard
8th arrondissement of Paris
17th arrondissement of Paris
19th century in Paris
Urban planning in France