Les anciens hôtels de la rive gauche (1880)

''Faubourg Saint-Germain'' () is a historic district 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. Si ...

, France. The ''Faubourg'' has long been known as the favourite home of the French high nobility and hosts many aristocratic '' hôtels particuliers''. It is currently part of the 7th arrondissement of Paris.

History

Early Royal History

In its early history, ''Faubourg Saint-Germain'' was an agricultural suburb of Paris, lying west of the historical Saint-Germain-des-Prés urban district. In 1670,

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

began to build a grandiose hospital and retirement home for aged and unwell soldiers: the Invalides. The king chose a site at the western end of the ''Faubourg'' and commissioned

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Libéral Bruant Libéral Bruant (''ca'' 1635 – Paris, 22 November 1697), was a French architect best known as the designer of the Hôtel des Invalides, Paris, which is now dominated by the dome erected by Jules Hardouin Mansart, his collaborator in earlier ...

. The enlarged project was completed in 1676. Stretching 196 metres along the Seine River, the complex had 15 courtyards, the largest being the '' cour d'honneur'' ("court of honour") for military parades.

Jules Hardouin Mansart Jules Hardouin-Mansart (; 16 April 1646 – 11 May 1708) was a French Baroque architect and builder whose major work included the Place des Victoires (1684–1690); Place Vendôme (1690); the domed chapel of Les Invalides (1690), and the Grand ...

assisted the aged Bruant, and the chapel was finished in 1679 to Bruant's designs after the elder architect's death. The construction of the Invalides opened a new district to urbanizing, offering large empty spaces between the new monument and the old city limit. During the 18th century, French

high nobility Traditional rank amongst European royalty, peers, and nobility is rooted in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Although they vary over time and among geographic regions (for example, one region's prince might be equal to another's grand duk ...

started to move from the central Marais, the then-aristocratic district of Paris where

nobles Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

used to build their urban mansions (see

Hotel de Soubise A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

) to the clearer, less populated and less polluted ''Faubourg Saint-Germain'' that soon became the new residence of French highest nobility. The district became so fashionable within the French

aristocracy Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word' ...

that the phrase ''le Faubourg'' has been used to describe French nobility ever since. The oldest and most prestigious families of the French nobility built residences in the area, such as the Hôtel Matignon, the Hôtel de Salm or the

Hôtel Biron The Hôtel Biron, known initially as the Hôtel Peyrenc-de-Moras and later as the Hôtel du Maine, is an ''hôtel particulier'' located at 77 rue de Varenne, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, that was built from 1727 to 1732 to the designs of t ...

The French Revolution

Riots that occurred on September 14, 1788, instigated by the retirement of the publicly-hated, royalist minister

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 ...

, resulted in troops being called into Faubourg Saint-Germain, and, according to

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activist ...

, "in the Rue Mélée and the Rue de Grenelle there was a horrible slaughter of poor folk who could not defend themselves." During 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 conside ...

, many of these mansions, offering large reception rooms and exquisite decoration, were confiscated and turned into national institutions. The French expression ''"les ors de la Republique"'' (literally, "the golds of the Republic"), referring to the luxurious environment of the national palaces (official residences and institutions), comes from that time.

The Restorations

During the restoration of the Bourbon

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

, the ''Faubourg'' recovered its past glory as the most exclusive

district of Paris. Moreover, as home to the

Ultra-royalist The Ultra-royalists (french: ultraroyalistes, collectively Ultras) were a French political faction from 1815 to 1830 under the Bourbon Restoration. An Ultra was usually a member of the nobility of high society who strongly supported Roman Cathol ...

Party, it was the political center of the country. The Ultra pushed towards counter-revolutionary laws, reinforcing the Catholic Church's power (

Anti-Sacrilege Act The Anti-Sacrilege Act (1825–1830) was a French law against blasphemy and sacrilege passed in April 1825 under King Charles X. The death penalty provision of the law was never applied, but a man named François Bourquin was sentenced to perpet ...

) and enacting the ' (literally, the "Law of the Billion to the Emigrants" eaning "Exiles", which allowed the French nobility to return from exile and compensated them for their loss of fortune and land in the Revolution. Honoré de Balzac wrote the short story "Madame Firmiani" about the law and its consequences. However, after the fall of

Charles X Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and Lou ...

in 1830 during the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (french: révolution de Juillet), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first in 1789. It led to ...

, the district lost most of its political influence. During the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (french: Monarchie de Juillet), officially the Kingdom of France (french: Royaume de France), was a liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 26 July 1830, with the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 23 ...

, from 1830 to 1848, when the junior Orleanist branch held the throne, the ''Faubourg'' was politically

marginalized Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. It is used across discipline ...

, many noble families withdrawing from active participation in political life to their châteaux, urban mansions in the ''Faubourg'' and a passive but brilliant social life. Thereafter, the ''Faubourg'' remained the center of French

upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status, usually are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper class is gen ...

social life. Nowadays, the ''Faubourg'' – as with the rest of the 7th arrondissement – is still one of the most exclusive districts of Paris.

Geography

The ''Faubourg Saint-Germain'' is the eastern part of the current 7th arrondissement, roughly the area between the Invalides, the 15th arrondissement and the 6th arrondissement's border. The neighborhood is more precisely bounded by the Seine River on the north, the Esplanade des Invalides/Boulevard des Invalides on the west, Rue de Babylone on the south, and the Boulevard Raspail and Boulevard Saint-Germain on the east.

Gallery

File:P1110393 Paris VII fontaine des quatre saisons rwk.JPG, Fontaine des Quatre-Saisons File:Hotel Biron.jpg,

File:Hoteldecassini2017.jpg, Hôtel de Cassini File:Hôtel du Châtelet JP2011 façade cour.jpg, Hôtel du Châtelet File:Matignon (perron).jpg, Hôtel Matignon File:Polska Ambasada w Paryzu.JPG, Hôtel de Monaco File:101RueDeGrenelle.jpg, Hôtel de Rothelin-Charolais File:Hôtel de Salm côté Seine Palais Légion d'Honneur Paris.jpg, Hôtel de Salm

References

{{Coord, 48.8580, N, 2.3200, E, source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:FR, display=title Districts of Paris 7th arrondissement of Paris