Butte aux Cailles
Butte aux Cailles is the name of a hill (French butte ) in Paris . It is located in the 13th arrondissement , on the left bank of the Seine (" Rive Gauche "), and rises from the bed of the now subterranean tributary of the Seine, the Bièvre, to a height of 63 meters. The highest point of this natural elevation is in the area of the Rue de la Butte-aux-Cailles .
The hill originally belonged to the independent suburb of Gentilly located at the gates of Paris and did not come into being until 1860, in the course of the so far last incorporation, when Ivry was divided into Paris.
This former working-class district, not far from Place d'Italie , stands in stark contrast to the high-rise buildings that were built there. Here the picture is characterized by small, picturesque, often cobblestone streets, mostly low houses and numerous restaurants and cafes.
history
The wooded hill remained almost untouched until the 17th century. One of the first activities was the production of calcareous sandstone in underground mining , while in the West several ponds that are near the Bièvre had formed in the summer still served as a cattle trough and in the winter in popular skating courts transformed. The frozen waters provided blocks of ice which were stored in bricked, earth-covered ice pits (French: glacière ) and sold to a large clientele throughout the year to cool food and drinks. The name of the Rue de la Glacière still reminds of this today . .
The establishment of the mur of fermiers généraux mentioned Akzisemauer to 1784/87 isolated the Butte aux Cailles Paris, which turned after the demolition of the Berlin Wall (1859) and the incorporation (1860) slowly in the village, which is the thanks of Quarries left behind tunnels, which prohibit building with tall houses, have remained in the middle of the pulsating cosmopolitan city to this day.
Here, as elsewhere, the city administration gradually relocated the course of the Bièvre into an underground canal, which is now connected to the network of Parisian Égouts (sewers) from 1828 to 1910 .
Memorable events
- 1783 , November 21: The aviation pioneer Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and his companion, the Guard Officer François d'Arlandes , landed on the Butte aux Cailles in a Montgolfière (hot air balloon) after the first successful manned free flight of mankind . The balloon had started in Paris and had covered a distance of 12 kilometers. It floated to the ground between the streets now called Rue Bobillot and Rue Vandrezanne .
- 1871 , May 24th: During the Paris Commune (March 18th to May 28th) the communist proletarians, who were united as Fédérés de la Butte aux Cailles and led by Walery Wroblewski , fought back the government troops several times. Today the name of the Aux Temps des Cérises restaurant commemorates the bloody events , an allusion to a famous song in honor of the fallen Communards, such as the Place de la Commune de Paris, baptized in 2000, at the intersection of Rue Buot and Rue de l 'Esperance .
Attractions
The Butte can be reached with several bus lines and via the Place d'Italie and Corvisart metro stations . Worth seeing are:
- the church of St. Anne-de-la-Butte-aux-Cailles ( Rue Tolbiac 188)
- the Piscine de la Butte-aux-Cailles swimming pool (1929–1924, Louis Bonnier , 5 Place Verlaine)
- the Fontaine Wallace at the intersection of rue de la Butte-aux-Cailles and rue de l'Espérance
- the hustle and bustle of the large food market on Boulevard Blanqui (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays)
literature
- Gaston Digard: La Butte-aux-Cailles , Paris, 1995, Editions municipales
- Jacques Hillairet: Dictionnaire Historique des rues de Paris , Paris, 1963, Editions de Minuit, ISBN 2-7073-0092-6
