It provides magnificent views over Paris! The Montmartre neighborhood, set 130 meters in altitude, is the high point of the French capital attracting always more tourists as the years go by. And it can be explained! The famous Basilica of the Sacred Heart proudly standing at the top of the hill is the second religious monument the most visited in Paris, after Notre-Dame. Authentically charming neighborhood, Montmartre will surprise you with its unicity and history. Proof of it with four untold stories about this neighborhood in Paris 18th arrondissement.
Once upon a time, the Maquis de Montmartre, former shanty town standing on the hill. Yes, Montmartre hasn’t always had the charm we know today. In the 1860’s, working class Parisians are chased down out of the center of Paris, transformed into a rather bourgeois city. They find shelter in this large field that will later become Montmartre. These shanty towns were then inhabited by winemakers, plowmen and millers.
After being a shanty town, the Montmartre neighborhood is changing. If you already have had the chance to have a walk there, you certainly noticed the artistic signature of the area. As a matter of fact, back in the days, art rules over the Butte de Montmartre. Its bohemian character is appealing. Several artists come to be inspired and live there: Edith Piaf, Jean Cocteau, Van Gogh, Monet and even Zola who was a regular at Café Guerbois. Still today, guided tours of the Montmartre neighborhood offer you to discover artists’ former places of life and studios.
Wine lovers can rejoice! The hill of Montmartre features a vineyard on the northern side. The 2000 vine stocks don’t allow a big harvest but are enough to make a vintage named Clos de Montmartre. By the way, every year in October is held the Montmartre Grape Harvest Festival.
222! This is the number of steps on rue Foyatier, only made of stairs. 36-meter (circa 118 feet), the stair-street gives access to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and provides unobstructed views on Paris. And if you’re not into climbing up, the street is lined by a funicular inaugurated in 1900, making the way up easier. Another specialty of this street: there’s no building, so no inhabitant.
Voilà, now you know some stores about Montmartre. But if you want to know more about specific places, we let you discover more secrets about the Sacred Heart and the Moulin Rouge that turned 130 years old last year!
