View source for Place Denfert-Rochereau

{{Short description|Public square in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, France}}
{{no footnotes|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox street
| name = Place Denfert-Rochereau
| image = P1150548 Paris XIV place Denfert-Rochereau rwk.jpg
| image_size = 230px
| image_alt = 
| caption = The ''[[Lion of Belfort]]'' in the Place Denfert-Rochereau
| map_type = France Paris
| map_size = 265
| coordinates = {{coord|48|50|3.66|N|2|19|56.62|E|region:FR_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| arrondissement =  [[14th arrondissement of Paris|XIV]]
| quarter = Montparnasse<br>Petit Montrouge 
| terminus_a = 
| terminus_b = 
| length = {{convert|220|m|abbr=on}}
| width = {{convert|145|m|abbr=on}}
| completion_date = 1863
| inauguration_label = Denomination
| inauguration_date = 1879
}}
The '''Place Denfert-Rochereau''' ({{IPA|fr|plas dɑ̃fɛʁ ʁɔʃʁo}}), previously known as the '''Place d'Enfer''', is a public square located in the [[14th arrondissement of Paris|14th arrondissement]] of [[Paris]], France, in the [[Montparnasse]] district, at the intersection of the boulevards [[Boulevard Raspail|Raspail]], Arago, and Saint-Jacques, and the avenues René Coty, Général Leclerc, and {{Interlanguage link|Avenue Denfert-Rochereau|fr|3=Avenue Denfert-Rochereau|lt=Denfert-Rochereau|vertical-align=sup}}, as well as the streets [[Rue Froidevaux|Froidevaux]], [[Rue Victor-Considérant|Victor-Considérant]] and [[Rue de Grancey|de Grancey]]. It is one of the largest and most important squares on the [[Rive Gauche|left bank]] of the [[Seine]].

The square is named after [[Pierre Philippe Denfert-Rochereau|Pierre Denfert-Rochereau]], the French commander who organized the defense at the [[siege of Belfort]] during the [[Franco-Prussian War]] (1870–1871). It is dominated by the ''[[Lion of Belfort]]'' statue (a smaller version of the original in the town of [[Belfort]]) by [[Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi|Frédéric Bartholdi]].

The square is the location of the [[Catacombs of Paris|Paris Catacombs]] museum. It is frequently the place where demonstrations and protest marches in Paris either start or end. The square is also the place depicted on the backdrop at the beginning of the third act of ''[[La Bohème]]'' by [[Puccini]].

==History==

[[Image:Paris 14e - place Denfert-Rochereau - pavillon Ledoux ouest.JPG|thumb|The tax-collection pavilion of the Enfer barrier. The entrance to the catacombs is behind the double-gate on the left.|left]]
This square owes its original official recognition to letters patent dated 9 August 1760, which applied to the part of the site that was located inside the old [[Wall of the Farmers-General]] (i.e. the northeastern portion of the present Place Denfert-Rochereau). The Wall of the Farmers-General, built under the ancien régime to prevent the evasion of excise taxes, separated Paris from the suburb of [[Montrouge]]. An ordinance of the Bureau of Finances, dated 16 January 1789, recognized the southwestern portion of the square, the part outside the wall, as part of Paris. The opening in the wall itself, which permitted entry or exit from Paris, was commonly called the [[Barrière d’Enfer]]. It is mentioned in ''[[Les Misérables]]'' by [[Victor Hugo]]:

:<small>"How did those children come there? Perhaps they had escaped from some guardhouse which stood ajar; perhaps in the vicinity, at the barrière d'Enfer, or on the esplanade de l'Observatoire, or in the neighboring carrefour, dominated by the pediment on which could be read: ''invenerunt parvulum pannis involutum'' ["they discovered the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes"], there was some mountebank's booth from which they had fled […]."</small>

Here, astride the opening in the wall, the architect [[Claude Nicolas Ledoux]] constructed two tollhouses to be used for the collection of the [[octroi]], a local tariff levied on products entering Paris. At the center of the present square, these two pavilions once framed the opening in the wall, and now, oddly, the entrance to the underworld of the catacombs lies next to the western one of them, the pavilion at the barrière d'Enfer ("barrier of Hell").

==Former name==
Traditionally called by the rather unattractive name of Place d'Enfer ('Hell Square'), the square had the name of Denfert-Rochereau ascribed to it through a sort of "municipal pun". The Franco-Prussian War had demoralized the French populace, and there was widespread damage all over northeastern France and to Paris itself. Anxious to put a positive spin on the defeat, the French authorities were looking for heroes to glorify. (At this time, for example, the village of [[Bitche]], located near the German border on the [[Orne]], had a Parisian square named for it because it had put up a spirited defense against the Prussians).

Denfert-Rochereau was a courageous man and an authentic hero, but whether his grandiose nickname, "The Lion of Belfort", was deserved is a matter of some debate. Nonetheless, since "Denfert" (of Denfert-Rochereau) is pronounced exactly the same as "d'Enfer" (of the Place d'Enfer), this coincidence was too perfect for the mairie (city hall) to ignore. They renamed the square the Place Denfert-Rochereau, and they could plausibly deny that they were ignoring Paris's ancient traditions in so doing. The name has remained the Place Denfert-Rochereau ever since.

==Places of interest==
[[File:Trarieux.jpg|thumb|Monument to Ludovic Trarieux by [[Jean Boucher (artist)|Jean Boucher]]]]
The main square, the Place Denfert-Rochereau, is planted with trees, mostly [[horse chestnut]]s, [[maple]]s, and [[Robinia pseudoacacia|locust]]s, and there are three named ''green spaces'' within it as well: Square [[Jacques Paul Migne|Abbé Migne]], Square [[Jacques Denis Antoine|Jacques Antoine]], and Square [[Claude Nicolas Ledoux]]. At the center of the square, in the midst of the traffic circulation, is a one-third-scale replica of the [[Lion of Belfort]] statue by [[Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi|Bartholdi]], symbolizing the courage of the resistance raised by Colonel Denfert-Rochereau at Belfort. In the garden to one side is a monument by [[Jean Boucher (artist)|Jean Boucher]] commemorating [[Ludovic Trarieux]].

The section of the main north–south boulevard running through the centre of the square is named for [[French Resistance]] leader [[Henri Rol-Tanguy]]. It is just one block in length, and connects the Avenue Denfert-Rochereau in the north to the Avenue General Leclerc in the south.
The entrance to the [[Paris Catacombs]] is now located within the recently renovated building with handsome [[Romanesque architecture|romanesque]] arches across its facade, on the odd-numbered side of Avenue du Colonel-Henri-Rol-Tanguy. This entrance is directly across the street from an identical even-numbered building that used to house the Directorate of Roads and Transport (''Direction de la Voirie et des Déplacements''), but since October 2019 is now the Musée de la Libération and Musée Jean Moulin. These two buildings, classified as [[Monument historique|historical monuments]], are the pavilions of the old Barrière d'Enfer, where taxes were collected on goods entering Paris.  They are built to the design of the 19th-century architect, [[Claude Nicolas Ledoux]], whose work can be found all over the city. This part of the square has enveloped the site of the Barrière d'Enfer, as well as part of the boulevards d'Enfer and Saint-Jacques, and a part of the boulevards [[Montrouge]] and [[Arcueil]], roads which, at one time, led to those two southern suburbs but no longer exist.

==Metro station==
[[File:Gare de Denfert-Rochereau - Batiment voyageur.jpg|thumb|The Denfert-Rochereau railway station]]
The Place Denfert-Rochereau is served by lines '''[[Paris Métro Line 4|4]]''' and '''[[Paris Métro Line 6|6]]''' of the [[Paris Metro]], from [[Denfert-Rochereau station (Paris Métro)|Denfert-Rochereau station]].

It is also served by the [[Réseau express régional|RER]] [[RER B|Line B]] commuter train from the [[Denfert-Rochereau station (Paris RER)|old railway station]] of the [[Ligne de Sceaux|Sceaux line]], the entrance to which is to the east of the square.

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070818194014/http://www.v1.paris.fr/CARTO/nomenclature/2691.nom.html Place Denfert-Rochereau]

==External links==
{{Commons category|Place Denfert-Rochereau (Paris)}}
* [http://antimusee.wordpress.com/2006/07/24/2-en-ces-lieux-insolites-poetiques-ou-tout-simplement-interessants-du-14eme-arrondissement-de-paris/ In the neighborhood of the Place Denfert-Rochereau] Illustrations of the 14th arrondissement
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070818194014/http://www.v1.paris.fr/CARTO/nomenclature/2691.nom.html Place Denfert-Rochereau] The official nomenclature concerning public roads, etc. in Paris
* [http://paris1900.lartnouveau.com/paris14/place_denfert_rochereau.htm Le Lion de Belfort] Photos from 1900

{{Visitor attractions in Paris |state=autocollapse}}

[[Category:Buildings and structures in the 14th arrondissement of Paris]]
[[Category:Squares in Paris|Denfert-Rochereau]]