The Boulevards of Paris are
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 b ...
s which form an important part of the urban landscape 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. ...
. The boulevards were constructed in several phases by central government initiative as infrastructure improvements, but are very much associated with strolling and leisurely enjoyment in the minds of Parisians.
Parisian boulevards and
avenues are usually tree-lined on one or both sides, which is rarely the case for smaller roads.
The ''grands boulevards''
The ''Grands Boulevards'' are the quintessence of the Parisian boulevards. Their origin is a plan initiated by
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 Ve ...
's minister
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert (; 29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His lasting impact on the organization of the countr ...
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, the plan included the establishment of the 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; the unification of professional regulations in the city and its outskirts (french: faubourgs in 1673; 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; and the erection or refurbishment of monumental gates on key intersections, namely the
Porte Saint-Antoine in 1671, the , 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
The Place de la Nation (formerly Place du Trône, subsequently Place du Trône-Renversé during the Revolution) is a circle on the eastern side of Paris, between Place de la Bastille and the Bois de Vincennes, on the border of the 11th and 1 ...
, started in the 1670s but abandoned around 1680 and whose unfinished structures were eventually demolished in 1716.
If defined by that historic origin, the expression "Grands Boulevards" should only follow the thoroughfares along the former
Wall of Charles V and 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
The boulevard des Italiens is a boulevard in Paris. It is one of the 'Boulevards of Paris#The grands boulevards, Grands Boulevards' in Paris, a chain of boulevards built through the former course of the Wall of Charles V and the City walls of Par ...
,
Boulevard des Capucines
The Boulevard des Capucines is a boulevard in Paris. It is one of the 'Grands Boulevards' in Paris, a chain of boulevards built through the former course of the Wall of Charles V and the Louis XIII Wall, which were destroyed on the orders of L ...
and
Boulevard de la Madeleine. However, Parisian habit also includes
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 ...
, with its department stores
Printemps
Printemps (; meaning "springtime" in French) is a French department store chain (french: grand magasin, links=no, literally "big store"). The Printemps stores focus on beauty, lifestyle, fashion, accessories, and men's wear. The Printemps w ...
and
Galeries Lafayette
The Galeries Lafayette () is an upmarket French department store chain, the biggest in Europe. Its flagship store is on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris but it now operates in a number of other locations in France and ot ...
, 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.
"''Boulevard du Crime''"
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 Bourbon Restoration may refer to:
France under the House of Bourbon:
* Bourbon Restoration in France (1814, after the French revolution and Napoleonic era, until 1830; interrupted by the Hundred Days in 1815)
Spain under the Spanish Bourbons:
* Ab ...
, 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".
[Cité par un]
presentation of the Théâtre Déjazet
.
Although the "boulevard du Crime" fell victim to
Haussmann's transformation, the ''boulevardier'' spirit lives on in "
théâtre de boulevard".
Haussmannian boulevards
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
Octroi (; fro, octroyer, to grant, authorize; Lat. ''auctor'') is a local tax collected on various articles brought into a district for consumption.
Antiquity
The word itself is of French origin. Octroi taxes have a respectable antiquity, bein ...
, a tax on goods entering the city which was hated by Parisians. It was demolished approximately between 1789 and 1860. 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
Haussmann's renovation of Paris was a vast public works programme commissioned by Emperor Napoleon III and directed by his prefect of Seine, Georges-Eugène Haussmann, between 1853 and 1870. It included the demolition of medieval neighbourh ...
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
An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning.
An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...
.
The Boulevards of the Marshals
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
The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental ...
, and are collectively called the
Boulevards of the Marshals. They run just inside the city limits.
In addition, the
Boulevard Périphérique
The Boulevard Périphérique (), often called the Périph', is a controlled-access dual-carriageway ring road in Paris, France. With a few exceptions (see '' Structure and Layout''), it is situated along Paris's administrative limit.
The s ...
, 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.
ÃŽle-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.
In popular culture
The boulevards provided the setting for
Maupassant's ''
Bel Ami''.
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history.
Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...
took to the boulevards in ''
Funny Face
''Funny Face'' is a 1957 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Stanley Donen and written by Leonard Gershe, containing assorted songs by George and Ira Gershwin. Although having the same title as the 1927 Broadway musical ''Funny ...
'' (1957).
See also
*
Vienna Ring Road
The Vienna Ring Road (german: Ringstraße, lit. ''ring road'') is a 5.3 km (3.3 mi) circular grand boulevard that serves as a ring road around the historic Innere Stadt (Inner Town) district of Vienna, Austria. The road is located on sites where ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boulevards of Paris
History of Paris
*
Urban planning in France