The Place Denfert-Rochereau of Paris !!

Posted in France, Paris

I have written before on many things in Paris and sometimes I found me new things not yet in my blog that should be, This is the case lately of finding old paper pictures in my vault , and Paris is a huge part of it. I have written on many places of Paris ; this is another nice one to see on the off the beaten path trails of my Paris ; worth the detour, me think, Therefore, here is my take on the Place Denfert-Rochereau of Paris !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I

The Place Denfert-Rochereau is formerly called “Place d’Enfer” and located in the 14éme arrondissement in the Montparnasse quartier or neighborhood of Paris. It is located to meet the boulevards Raspail, Arago, Saint-Jacques, the avenues of Colonel-Henri-Rol-Tanguy, René-Coty, General-Leclerc, and dtreets, rue Froidevaux, Victor-Considérant , and de Grancey. The area is served by metro lines 4 and 6 at Denfert-Rochereau, and by line B of the RER at Denfert-Rochereau station, an underground correspondence corridor connecting the metro station and the RER station between them. It is also accessible by several lines of the RATP bus network, The Orlybus service will end by march 2025 due to the extension of metro line 14 giving the bus line not enough passengers. Behold found me a better picture in my old cd rom so here it is for you and me!!

paris place denfert rochereau lion-de-belfort dec24

The square is decorated with a replica to the Third Party (1880) of the Lion of Belfort of Auguste Bartholdi symbolizing the bravery of the defenders of Belfort commanded by Colonel Denfert-Rochereau during the seat of the city, during the Franco-Prussian war From 1870 the entrance to the Catacombs was located, on the odd side of the avenue du Colonel-Henri-Rol-Tanguy, at no 1 , You see on the avenue an entrance to the metro station is equipped with a Guimard edict, It was the square where does the first table of the third act of the La Bohème take place by Giacomo Puccini.

Paris Place Denfert-Rochereau Lion de Belfort c2007

The Place Denfert-Rochereau has its origin in the construction of the mur des Fermiers Généraux or wall of farmers general, at the end of the 18C. At this location, cutting the wall, the Barrière d’Enfer or Denfert-Rochereau pavilion had been built and marked the entrance to the city.Three squares overlook it: the square Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, the square of Father Migne and the square Jacques Antoine. Streets overlooking the square: Boulevard Raspail – Boulevard Arago – Boulevard Saint Jacques – Avenue René Coty – Avenue du Général Leclerc and Rue Froidevaux after the destruction of the wall of farmers general in 1890 by the prefect Haussmann, appeared the first place d’Enfer to which the current rue Froidevaux, le boulevard Saint-Jacques, l’avenue d’Enfer ( now rue Denfert-Rochereau) et l’avenue d’Orléans (now avenue du Général Leclerc). In the second half of the 19C, Boulevard Arago and Avenue de Montsouris (now Avenue René Coty) were pierced.

The former Place d’Enfer receives the name of Place Denfert-Rochereau by the decree of August 16, 1879 name after the heroic governor of Belfort during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, the opening in the mur d’octroi, or granting wall, which made it possible to enter or leave Paris, was commonly called Barriere d’Enfer which still in the center of the square are still the two buildings designed by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, forming this door in the wall of general farmers, Responsible for collecting taxes and limiting the old territory of the city of Paris. During the night of November 10 to 11, 1920, they served as fiery chapels where the remains of the unknown soldier and the heart of Léon Gambetta was watched before his transfer to the Pantheon The portion of the square between the two buildings received the name of avenue du Colonel-Henri-Rol-Tanguy in 2004, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Liberation of Paris. The reception building of the current Denfert-Rochereau RER station was inaugurated in 1846 under the name embarcadère de Sceaux or Sceaux pier during the opening ceremony of the old railway on the Sceaux line. It is the oldest train station in Paris.

And an update. The Place Denfert-Rochereau will be partly vegetated and pedestrianized in the summer of 2025. The City of Paris has just confirmed that redevelopment work will be launched to end in 2026.

The City of Paris on the place denfert-rochereau: https://mairie14.paris.fr/pages/reinventez-la-place-denfert-rochereau-19805

The Paris tourist office on the Orlybus: https://parisjetaime.com/eng/transport/orlybus-p3689

The Paris tourist office on the 14 arrondissement or district of Paris : https://parisjetaime.com/eng/article/passion-for-architecture-paris-14th-a744

There you go folks, this is a wonderful area for walks in a popular area of my eternal Paris , for all to see, and visit while in Paris. The square is very nice indeed. Again,hope you enjoy this post on the Place Denfert-Rochereau of Paris as I

And remember ,happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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