Rue Saint-Jacques is a street in the Latin Quarter of Paris which lies along the ''

cardo A cardo (plural ''cardines'') was a north–south street in Ancient Roman cities and military camps as an integral component of city planning. The cardo maximus, or most often the ''cardo'', was the main or central north–south-oriented street. ...

'' of Roman

Lutetia The Gallo-Roman town of ''Lutetia'' (''Lutetia Parisiorum'' in Latin, in French ''Lutèce'') was the predecessor of the modern-day city of Paris. It was founded in about the middle of the 3rd century BCE by the Parisii, a Gallic tribe. Tra ...

Boulevard Saint-Michel Boulevard Saint-Michel () is one of the two major streets in the Latin Quarter of Paris, the other being Boulevard Saint-Germain. It is a tree-lined boulevard which runs south from the Pont Saint-Michel on the Seine and Place Saint-Michel, cr ...

, driven through this old quarter of Paris by

Baron Haussmann Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

, relegated the roughly parallel Rue Saint-Jacques to a backstreet, but it was a main axial road of medieval Paris, as the buildings that still front it attest. It was the starting point for pilgrims leaving Paris to make their way along the '' Chemin de Saint-Jacques'' that led eventually to

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of S ...

. The Paris base of the Dominican Order was established in 1218 under the leadership of Pierre Seilhan (or Seila) in the Chapelle Saint-Jacques, close to the Porte Saint-Jacques, on this street; this is why the Dominicans were called ''Jacobins'' in Paris. Thus the street's name is indirectly responsible for the Jacobin Club in the French Revolution getting that name (being based in a former Jacobin monastery, itself located elsewhere). Johann Heynlin and

Guillaume Fichet Guillaume Fichet (; 21 September 1433 – c. 1480) was a French scholar, who cooperated with Johann Heynlin to establish the first printing press in France (Paris) in 1470. Biography He was born at Le Petit-Bornand-les-Glières, in Savoy. He stu ...

established the first printing press in France, briefly at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

and then on this street, in the 1470s. The second printers in Paris were Peter Kayser and Johann Stohl at the sign of the Soleil d'Or in Rue Saint-Jacques, from 1473. The proximity of the Sorbonne led many later booksellers and printers to set up shop here also.

Notable sites

* The

* The Lycée Louis-le-Grand * The Institut de géographie of Panthéon-Sorbonne University at 191 Rue Saint-Jacques * No 163 bis, Le Port du Salut, an inn of the 18th century, had a cabaret where many artistes made their debuts: Guy Béart, Barbara,

Georges Moustaki Georges Moustaki (born Giuseppe Mustacchi; 3 May 1934 – 23 May 2013) was an Egyptian-French singer-songwriter of Jewish Italo-Greek origin. He wrote about 300 songs for some of the most popular singers in France, including Édith Piaf, Dalida, ...

Pierre Perret Pierre Perret (born 9 July 1934 in Castelsarrasin, Tarn-et-Garonne) is a French singer and composer. Pierre Perret resides in the city of Nangis. Biography He spent a long part of his childhood in the café which his parents owned, where he le ...

Jean Yanne Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * J ...

Coluche Michel Gérard Joseph Colucci (, ; 28 October 1944 – 19 June 1986), better known under his stage name Coluche (), was a French stage comedian and cinema actor. He adopted ''Coluche'' as a stage name at age 26, when he began his entertainment ca ...

, Serge Gainsbourg,

Boby Lapointe Robert Jean-François Joseph Pascal Lapointe (; 16 April 1922 – 29 June 1972), better known by his stage name Boby Lapointe (), was a French actor and singer, noted for his humorous texts, alliterationsSee the titles: ''Aubade à Lydie en do'' ...

between 1955 and 1982. * No 195, Institut océanographique * No 252, the Église Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas, in the Classical style, once a centre of Jansenism, burial place of the astronomer Cassini (built between 1670 and 1684 to the designs of Erard and of

Daniel Gittard Daniel Gittard (March 14, 1625 – December 15, 1686) was a French architect. Biography Daniel Gittard was born in Blandy-les-Tours. He died in Paris. In 1671, he became one of the first eight members of the Académie royale d'architecture ...

).Huisman, G. & Poisson, G. (1966) ''Les Monuments de Paris''. Paris: Hachette; p. 210 * No 244, associated with

André Salmon André Salmon (4 October 1881, Paris – 12 March 1969, Sanary-sur-Mer) was a French poet, art critic and writer. He was one of the early defenders of Cubism, with Guillaume Apollinaire and Maurice Raynal. Biography André Salmon was born in ...

and the revue ''Le Festin d'Esope'', founded by him and his friends ,

Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of th ...

and others.

Notes

{{Authority control