The Place Pigalle is a public square located in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, between the Boulevard de Clichy and the Boulevard de Rochechouart, near the Sacré-Cœur, at the foot of the Montmartre hill. The square takes its name from the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (1714–1785), and it is the best-known square of the Quartier Pigalle, the Pigalle district. This site is served by lines 2 and 12 at Pigalle metro station.

History

In 1826, Mr. Brack was authorized to form on his land and on land that the city conceded to him by way of exchange, in accordance with the deliberation of the Conseil municipal of 1 June 1826, a street 12 meters wide, from the Rue Laval (now the Rue Victor-Massé) to the Porte Montmartre (Montmartre Gate), and a semi-circular square in front of this gate. In 1864, this square, named the Place de la Barrière-Montmartre, was renamed the Place Pigalle. On 18 March 1871, General Clément Thomas, having learned that General Claude Lecomte had been seized by the insurgents during the Paris Commune uprising, set out to find him. Dressed in disguise as a civilian, he arrived at around 5 p.m. on the Place Pigalle. When one of the rebels recognized him by his big white beard, he was taken to the Rue des Rosiers and executed. By 1900 the square and the surrounding streets were a neighbourhood of painters' studios and literary cafés of which the most renowned was the Nouvelle Athènes (New Athens).

Remarkable buildings and memorable places

In popular culture