Place Saint-Paul
Encyclopedia
Nonetheless, to the citizens of this 4th-arrondissement
IVe arrondissement
The 4th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France.Situated on the Right Bank of the River Seine, it is bordered to the west by the 1st arrondissement; to the north by the 3rd, to the east by the 11th and 12th, and to the south by the Seine and the...
neighborhood, the Place Saint-Paul is a real place near the Saint-Paul metro station
Saint-Paul (Paris Metro)
Saint-Paul is a station on Paris Métro Line 1. It serves the neighbourhood of Le Marais, known for its Jewish and gay communities. The Jewish quarter is called Pletzl and is located around the Rue des Rosiers...
and the Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis church. Here, almost in front of the church’s north-facing doors, the Rue Saint-Antoine meets the Rue de Rivoli at a narrow angle, forming a triangular island to the west of the intersection where there are trees, benches, kiosks, an entrance to the Saint-Paul metro station, a carousel for children, etc. Unofficially, this sliver of ground in the middle of traffic is the Place Saint-Paul, but most local people will tell you that the Place Saint-Paul extends a few tens of metres into the neighboring streets as well.
Perhaps a workable definition might be: the Place Saint-Paul is any place where either the Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis church or an entrance to the Saint-Paul metro station is within sight. If so, then the portions of the streets closest to the Rivoli/Saint-Antoine intersection would be included: Rue Saint-Paul
Rue Saint-Paul
Rue Saint-Paul is a street in the Old Montreal historic area of Montreal, Quebec.The street was laid out by François Dollier de Casson, along the route of a path that had bordered a former fort. Saint Paul is Montreal's oldest street and for many years served as its main thoroughfare...
, Rue de Turenne, Rue de Sévigné, Rue Malher, Rue du Roi de Sicile, Rue Pavée, Rue Francois Miron, Rue de Fourcy, and Rue de Prévôt.
Both the "square" and the metro station take their names from the local church, the Church of Saint-Paul and Saint-Louis. The area is also called "Métro Saint-Paul". A hotel nearby, perhaps acknowledging the unofficial nature of the “Place Saint-Paul” name, calls itself "Hôtel de la Pointe Rivoli".
The triangular area described above, planted with two rows of trees, has existed since the extension of the Rue de Rivoli from the ancient Place du Marché-Saint-Jean, which is known today as the Place du Bourg-Tibourg, to the Rue Saint-Antoine undertaken by Baron Haussmann
Baron Haussmann
Georges-Eugène Haussmann, commonly known as Baron Haussmann , was a French civic planner whose name is associated with the rebuilding of Paris...
in 1854. As for the metro station, it was among the stops on the first section of Line 1 of the metro system, which opened on 19 July 1900, as part of a new service operating between Porte Maillot and the Porte de Vincennes.
There are old postcards that have pictures that clearly represent places in the Place Saint-Paul area, yet they are captioned Place des Juifs (Plaza of the Jews). The neighboring Jewish quarter (Rue des Rosiers
Rue des Rosiers
The Rue des Rosiers, which means "street of the rosebushes", is a street in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. It begins at the Rue Mahler and proceeds west-northwestward across the Rue Pavée, the Rue Ferdinand Duval, the Rue des Écouffes, and the Rue des Hospitalières-Saint-Gervais, before...
, Rue Ferdinand-Duval, etc.) is called the Pletzl
Pletzl
The Pletzl is the Jewish quarter in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. The Place Saint-Paul and the surrounding area were, unofficially, named the Pletzl when the neighborhood became predominantly Jewish because of an influx of immigrants at the end of the nineteenth century and the...
, (פלעצל, "little place" in Yiddish.) The "little place", which lent its name to an entire neighborhood, is also often identified as the "Place Saint-Paul".
Metro station
It is served by line 1.
See also
- PletzlPletzlThe Pletzl is the Jewish quarter in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. The Place Saint-Paul and the surrounding area were, unofficially, named the Pletzl when the neighborhood became predominantly Jewish because of an influx of immigrants at the end of the nineteenth century and the...
- Saint-Paul (Paris Métro)Saint-Paul (Paris Metro)Saint-Paul is a station on Paris Métro Line 1. It serves the neighbourhood of Le Marais, known for its Jewish and gay communities. The Jewish quarter is called Pletzl and is located around the Rue des Rosiers...
- Squares in ParisSquares in ParisParis is known as the City of Light. Part of the credit for this soubriquet can be ascribed to long-standing city ordinances that have restricted the height of buildings in the central city. A more modest skyline, interrupted only by the Eiffel Tower, the Tour Montparnasse, Sacré-Coeur, and a few...