The Rue Gît-le-Cœur is a street in the

6th arrondissement of Paris The 6th arrondissement of Paris (''VIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ''le sixième''. The arrondissement, called Luxembourg in ...

, France.

Name

In the 14th century, the street was documented under the name ''Gilles-Queux'' or ''Gui-le-Queux'', presumably referring to a cook ( in

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th Saint-Germain-des-Prés Abbey. In 1300, a large property on the northeastern section of the street between the and what is now the quay (then the ) was the Paris residence of the

Bishop of Chartres The oldest known list of bishops of Chartres is found in an 11th-century manuscript of Trinity Abbey, Vendôme. It includes 57 names from Adventus (Saint Aventin) to Aguiertus (Agobert) who died in 1060. The most well-known list is included in the ...

. In 1394, it belonged to

Louis de Sancerre Louis de Sancerre (1341 or 1342 – 6 February 1402; aged 60-61) was a Marshal of France and Constable of France during the Hundred Years' War. Early life Sancerre was born as the second son of count Louis II de Sancerre and Béatrix de Ro ...

, in 1397 to the

Archbishop of Besançon In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

, and in 1418 to . In the second quarter of the 16th century, it was acquired and rebuilt by King Francis I for his chief mistress

Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly (), Duchess of Étampes, (15081580) was Maîtresse-en-titre, chief mistress of Francis I of France. She became Francis' mistress following his return from captivity in 1526. Anne enriched her family and friends through ...

, who stayed there until her exile following Francis's death in 1547. The same location then became the mansion of , later occupied by various members of the . In 1641,

Louis Charles d'Albert de Luynes Louis Charles d'Albert, 2nd Duke of Luynes (25 December 1620 – 10 October 1690), was a French nobleman and peer of France. He was a translator and moralist who was the first translator of the work of René Descartes. Early life Louis-Charles d ...

married Louise Marie Séguier, Marquise d'O, and the property became known as the until its partitioning in 1671. Parts of the 1671 rebuilding are preserved in the courtyard of no. 5. Nos. 10 and 12 are built on the former location of another prominent mansion, which in the 14th century belonged to the

Counts of Artois The count of Artois (, ) was the ruler over the County of Artois from the 9th century until the abolition of the countship by the French revolutionaries in 1790. House of Artois *Odalric () *Altmar () *Adelelm (?–932) *''Conquered by Arn ...

, thus known as the , with main entrance at what is now no. 30 rue Saint-André-des-Arts. It was later used by Paris Bishop ; by Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury, in 1422; by Louis II de Luxembourg, Bishop of Thérouanne, in 1428; and was eventually partitioned in 1535. Most of the street's current buildings date from the late 16th to late 18th centuries. The whole street was inundated during the

1910 Great Flood of Paris The 1910 Great Flood of Paris () was a catastrophe in which the Seine River, carrying winter rains from its tributaries, flooded the conurbation of Paris, France. The Seine water level rose eight meters (more than 26 feet) above the ordinary lev ...

. From the 18th to late 20th centuries, the street was a hub of the Parisian bookstore business. A bookshop affiliated with the

Maoist Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

Union des jeunesses communistes marxistes-léninistes operated at no. 6 from 1967 to 1978, bankrolled by the wealthy grandmother of activist , and gave its name to the short-lived far-left publishing house . A trade association of sellers of ancient books, the , has been located at no. 4 since 1985. As of 2021, two bookstores remain in the street: at no. 4 and at no. 10; the latter opened in 1991. At no. 6, a

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

club () opened in 1886 and still operates as of 2022, claiming to be the oldest remaining in Paris. École César Franck, a private music school, operated at no. 8 from 1968 until its closure in the 1980s. An independent movie theater, long known as , has operated at no. 12 since February 1967. As of 2021, the tiny street's commercial activity is mainly related to tourism, with several hotels and restaurants.

Notable individuals

* Royal official

Nicolas René Berryer Nicolas René Berryer, comte de La Ferrière (4 March 1703 – 15 August 1762) was a French politician who served as Secretary of State for the Navy from 1758 to 1761. Life Nicolas René Berryer was the son of Nicolas Berryer, procureur gén ...

owned no. 7 in the 18th century. * Bibliographer Jacques-Charles Brunet lived at no. 4 and wrote there his book , published in 1810. * Kléber Bénard, a member of the criminal

Bonnot Gang The Bonnot Gang (''La Bande à Bonnot''), or The Tragic Bandits (''Les Bandes Tragiques''), was a French criminal anarchist group that operated in France and Belgium during the late ''Belle Époque'' from 1911 to 1912. Composed of individuals wh ...

, lived at no. 17 in 1911. * Czech writer

Vítězslav Nezval Vítězslav Nezval (; 26 May 1900 – 6 April 1958) was a Czechs, Czech poet, writer and translator. He was one of the most prolific avant-garde Czech writers in the first half of the 20th century and a co-founder of the Surrealism, Surrealist ...

gave the street's name to a book (, 1936) based on his stay in Paris for the International Writers' Congress for the Defense of Culture in June 1935, in memory of the street's restaurant where he spent time with

André Breton André Robert Breton (; ; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...

Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...

and

Benjamin Péret Benjamin Péret (4 July 1899 – 18 September 1959) was a French poet, Parisian Dadaist, and founder and central member of the French Surrealist movement with his avid use of Surrealist automatism. Biography Benjamin Péret was born in Rezé ...

. * Indian yoga guru

Meher Baba Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani; 25 February 1894 – 31 January 1969) was an Indian spirituality, spiritual master who said he was the Avatar, or God in human form, of the age. A spiritual figure of the 20th century, he had a following o ...

lived at no. 1 during a Parisian stay in 1936. *

French Caribbean The French West Indies or French Antilles (, ; ) are the parts of France located in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean: * The two overseas departments of: ** Guadeloupe, including the islands of Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Les Saintes, Mari ...

writer

Édouard Glissant Édouard Glissant (; 21 September 1928 – 3 February 2011) was a French writer, poet, philosopher, and literary critic from Martinique. He is an influential figure in Caribbean thought and cultural commentary and Francophone literature. Li ...

was a regular at his friend Maurice Roche's room at no. 7, in the early 1950s. * French graphic artist Raymond Savignac lived at no. 10 in the 1950s. * From 1957 to 1963, several poets and artists of the

Beat Generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-World War II era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by members o ...

stayed in a rundown pension at no. 9, which they nicknamed the Beat Hotel, including

Sinclair Beiles Sinclair Beiles (b. Kampala, Uganda, 1930–2000, Johannesburg) was a South African beat poet and editor for Maurice Girodias at the Olympia Press in Paris. He developed along with William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin the cut-up technique of ...

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist. He is widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major Postmodern literature, postmodern author who influen ...

Gregory Corso Gregory Nunzio Corso (March 26, 1930 – January 17, 2001) was an American poet. Along with Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs, he was part of the Beat Generation, as well as one of its youngest members. Early life Born N ...

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

Brion Gysin Brion Gysin (19 January 1916 – 13 July 1986) was a British-Canadian painter, writer, sound poet, performance artist and inventor of experimental devices. He is best known for his use of the cut-up technique, alongside his close friend, the ...

Harold Norse Harold Norse (July 6, 1916, New York City – June 8, 2009, San Francisco) was an American writer who created a body of work using the American idiom of everyday language and images. One of the expatriate artists of the Beat generation, Norse w ...

Peter Orlovsky Peter Anton Orlovsky (July 8, 1933 – May 30, 2010) was an American poet and actor. He was the long-time partner of Allen Ginsberg. Early life and career Orlovsky was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, the son of Katheri ...

, Derek Raymond, and Ian Sommerville. * Israeli painter

Hanna Ben Dov Hanna Ben Dov (; 1919 in Jerusalem – 2008 in Paris) was an Israeli abstract painter. Life & Work Ben Dov's father, Ya'ackov Ben-Dov, was a famous Israeli photographer who founded the photography department in the Bezalel Academy of Art and D ...

lived at no. 12 in the 1960s and 1970s. * French author ran the bookshop at no. 6 before turning away from Maoism in 1971.

In art

Like other atmospheric streets of the

Latin Quarter The Latin Quarter of Paris (, ) is an urban university campus in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne. Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistros, t ...

, the Rue Gît-le-Cœur has inspired works by artists including

Charles Marville Charles Marville, the pseudonym of Charles François Bossu (Paris 17 July 1813 – 1 June 1879 Paris), was a French photographer, who mainly photographed architecture, landscapes and the urban environment. He used both paper and glass negatives. ...

, Bram van Velde, and .

Gallery

File:Hostel duc de Luynes Zeiller 13755.jpg, The in 1655, engraving after Israel Silvestre File:10 rue gît-le-coeur -1.jpg, 17th-century building at no. 10 File:Paris 1910 Inondation quai des Grands-Augustins et rue Gît-le-Cœur.jpg, The street during the Great Flood of 1910 File:Plaque Jacques-Charles Brunet, 4 rue Gît-le-Cœur, Paris 6.jpg, Plaque commemorating Jacques-Charles Brunet at no. 4 File:Plaque Beat Hotel, 9 rue Gît-le-Cœur, Paris 6.jpg, Plaque installed in 2009 at no. 9

Notes

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