Rue Saint-Denis is one of the oldest streets in

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 ...

. Its route was first laid out in the 1st century by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, and then extended to the north in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. From the Middle Ages to the present day, the street has been notorious as a place of

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

. Its name derives from it being the historic route to Saint-Denis. The street extends as far as the 1st arrondissement and

Rue de Rivoli Rue de Rivoli (; English: "Rivoli Street") is a street in central Paris, France. It is a commercial street whose shops include leading fashionable brands. It bears the name of Napoleon's early victory against the Austrian army, at the Battle of R ...

to the south and as far as the 2nd arrondissement and the boulevard Saint-Denis to the north. It runs parallel to the

boulevard de Sébastopol The Boulevard de Sébastopol is an important roadway in Paris, France, which serves to delimit the 1st and 2nd arrondissements from the 3rd and 4th arrondissements of the city. The boulevard is 1.3 km in length, starting from the place du ...

History

The ancient Roman route (Flanders road) leading to Saint-Denis,

Pontoise Pontoise () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise. Administration Pontoise is the official ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-d'Oise ''dép ...

and

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population ...

it competed with the "route de Senlis" (see

rue Saint-Martin ''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of ''Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Balkan Peninsula. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for its bl ...

) but gained an advantage over it with the demolition of the Grand Pont (see Pont au Change) and the development of the royal abbey of Saint-Denis, becoming the triumphal way for royal entries into the capital. Flanked by houses from 1134 onwards, the street has borne the alternative names of Sellerie de Paris and Sellerie de la Grande Rue (13th century) ; grand'rue de Paris ; grande rue or rue des Saints Innocents et grant chaussée de Monsieur / Monseigneur Saint-Denis (14th century). 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 ...

, it was known as the rue de Franciade. The street was one of the centres of the

June Rebellion The June Rebellion, or the Paris Uprising of 1832 (french: Insurrection républicaine à Paris en juin 1832), was an anti-monarchist insurrection of Parisian republicans on 5 and 6 June 1832. The rebellion originated in an attempt by republ ...

of 1832, immortalised in

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

's novel ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

'', and which is referred to in the book as the "Epic of the Rue Saint-Denis".

, ''Les Miserables'', Book 4: The Idyll of the Rue Plumet and the Epic of the Rue Saint-Denis.

Activities

The neighborhood around the rue Saint-Denis is now above all made up of

sex shop A sex shop is a retailer that sells products related to adult sexual or erotic entertainment, such as sex toys, lingerie, pornography, and other related products. An early precursor of the modern sex shop was a chain of stores set up in t ...

s, with the part situated between rue Réaumur and boulevard Saint-Denis notorious as a place of

. The street also contains some clothes shops, bars and restaurants, as well as the church of Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles, a bank, and the Chambre des notaires building.

Famous buildings

* n° 60 (corner of

rue de la Cossonnerie ''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of ''Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Balkan Peninsula. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for its bl ...

) : Remains of the ''Cour Batave'', a collection of buildings constructed for Dutch speculators by

Jean-Nicolas Sobre Jean-Nicolas is a French compound given name, a combination of Jean and Nicolas. Notable people with the name include: * Jean-Nicolas Bouilly (1763–1842), French playwright, librettist and politician * Jean-Nicolas Boulay (1837–1905), French ...

and Célestin-Joseph Happe in 1790, one of Paris's first examples of private housing development. * n° 92 :

Église Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles The Église Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles de Paris is a Roman Catholic parish church in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. It has housed the relics of the Empress Saint Helena, mother of Constantine, since 1819, for which it remains a site of veneration ...

* n° 142 (corner of rue Grénéta) : House built in 1732 by Jacques-Richard Cochois for Claude Aubry. Attached to it is the "fontaine Greneta", rebuilt at the same time as the house, but whose original dates back to at least 1502. * n°s 224–226 : Maison des Dames de Saint-Chaumont (Couvent des Filles de l'Union chrétienne), established in 1685 in a hôtel de Saint-Chaumond, of which nothing survives except its name in the name of the community. The nuns had constructed 1734–1735 by

Jacques Hardouin-Mansart de Sagonne Jacques Hardouin-Mansart de Sagonne (26 July 1711, Paris - 27 September 1778, Paris) was a French architect. He was the illegitimate son of Jacques Hardouin-Mansart, comte de Sagonne, by his mistress Madeleine Duguesny - Jacques and Madeleine marr ...

a lodge which has been conserved (but raised up), a building of exceptional quality decorated by

Nicolas Pineau Nicolas Pineau (1684–1754) was a French carver and ornamental designer, one of the leaders who initiated the exuberant style of the French ''rocaille'' or Rococo. He worked in St. Petersburg and Paris. Pineau, the son of the carver Jean-Baptist ...

. It is the only survivor of the many pious or charitable establishments built along rue Saint-Denis. Its simple entrance is next to boulevard de Sébastopol and a garden extends between the building and the street. In the corner of rue de Tracy could be found the covent's chapel, built in 1782 by Pierre Convers in the ancient style but now lost. * At the end of rue Saint-Denis, at the

intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, thei ...

of the grands Boulevards, can be found the

porte Saint-Denis The Porte Saint-Denis ( en, St. Denis Gate) is a Parisian monument located in the 10th arrondissement, at the site of one of the gates of the Wall of Charles V, one of Paris' former city walls. It is located at the crossing of the Rue Saint-De ...

. Rue Saint-Denis then extends out into what was medieval Paris's

faubourg "Faubourg" () is an ancient French term historically equivalent to " fore-town" (now often termed suburb or ). The earliest form is , derived from Latin , 'out of', and Vulgar Latin (originally Germanic) , 'town' or 'fortress'. Traditionally, ...

by the Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis

References

External links

*
Raid November 18th, 2015
{{Visitor attractions in Paris Saint-Denis Saint-Denis Roman Paris Red-light districts in France