Rue du Pont-Neuf, Paris explained

The Rue du Pont-Neuf is a street in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, shared between Les Halles to the north and to the south. It was pierced in the second half of the 19th century. It bears this name because it leads to the Pont Neuf.

Location and access

The street gives access to the Pont Neuf from the right bank to the south, and to the Forum des Halles from its other end to the north.

The lane continues via this last end and becomes the, closed to car traffic since the closure of the old halls of Paris, then the Rue Montorgueil,,, Rue du Faubourg-Poissonnière to end at the .

The current street is an important crossing point because it crosses several arteries such as the tracks of the banks of the Seine, the Rue de Rivoli and the Rue Saint-Honoré. There was previously an entrance to the Forum des Halles car park, now filled in and converted into a sidewalk.

History

On 21 June 1854, a decree approved the plan for the restructuring of the Halles Centrales. This plan provided for the opening of a new street between the Pont Neuf and Les Halles.^[1] The plot plan of the properties to be expropriated for "the widening of the Rue Tirechape and the extension of this road to the Pont Neuf" was published on 6 September 1865.^[2]

The Rue Étienne, and were absorbed by the new road. Part of the and the, located at the mouth of the Pont Neuf, also disappeared. In 1867, the new road was named the Rue du Pont-Neuf.^[3] The part between the and the Rue Rambuteau was renamed the in 1877;^[4] this street was removed during the construction of the Forum des Halles.

Remarkable buildings and places of memory

• No. 1, at the corner with the Quai du Louvre: La Samaritaine department store, Monument historique. On the top floor, Le Kong, a restaurant fitted out in 2003 by designer Philippe Starck, whose glass roof is in line with the Pont Neuf.^{[5] [6]} A scene from the film Tell No One (2006) was filmed there.^[7]
• No. 2, at the corner with the : former site of the store (1867–1972).^[8]
• No. 31, Molière would have been born in a house which was on this site; a bust above an engraved inscription pays homage to him. Nearby, at 96 rue Saint-Honoré, is a commemorative plaque stating the same.^[9] We owe this inscription, indicating the birth of the man of letters in 1620, while he was born in 1622, to an unscrupulous owner who, by buying the building, thought that he could give it an capital gain by erecting this false plaque.^[10]
• No. 33, restaurant Au chien qui fume, Monument historique.

See also

• Haussmann's renovation of Paris

Notes and References

1. Web site: Graveur . Avril Frères (Paris) . 1854 . Plan général des Halles centrales et de leurs abords / gravé par Avril, frères . 2023-08-04 . Gallica . EN.
2. Web site: texte . Seine Auteur du . 1865 . Recueil des actes administratifs de la Préfecture du département de la Seine . 2023-08-04 . Gallica . EN.
3. Book: Alphand, Adolphe . Arrêté du 26 février 1867 . 371 . fr . Adolphe Alphand.
4. Book: Alphand, Adolphe . Décret du 10 novembre 1877 . 425 . fr . Adolphe Alphand.
5. Web site: KONG Bar Restaurant Paris, France . 2023-08-05 . www.kong.fr.
6. Web site: 22 July 2014 . Les meilleurs rooftops de Paris . 2023-08-05 . LEFIGARO . fr.
7. Web site: Kong – NE LE DIS A PERSONNE . https://web.archive.org/web/20220529023931/http://www.parisfaitsoncinema.com/les-adresses/paris/kong-restaurant-de-ne-le-dis-a-personne.html#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&tab=url . 2022-05-29 . 2023-08-05 . www.parisfaitsoncinema.com . fr . bot: unknown .
8. Book: Hillairet, Jacques . Dictionnaire historique des rues de Paris . Dictionnaire historique des rues de Paris . . 1963 . 2-7073-1054-9 . 393–394 . fr . Jacques Hillairet.
9. Web site: 16 December 2013 . Comment Paris plaque l'histoire sur ses murs . 2023-08-05 . www.20minutes.fr . fr.
10. Web site: Où est vraiment né Molière ? – Paris ZigZag Insolite & Secret . 2023-08-05 . www.pariszigzag.fr . fr-FR.