Paris 16th District
Paris 16th District is commonly known as Quartier de Passy.
This upscale district is also considered the quintessential residential area of the capital. It indeed boasts the highest concentration of embassies and museums, hosts two major horse races and four international stadiums, including Roland-Garros and the Parc des Princes.
Thanks to the Bois de Boulogne, it ranks as the second greenest district in Paris, after the 12th district with the Bois de Vincennes. Unlike other districts, industry and crafts are absent, and Paris 16th district is mainly dedicated to luxury boutiques, art galleries and luxury hotels. This “new district” was created in 1860 by the merger of the villages of Auteuil, Passy and Chaillot.
Paris 16th District includes: Quartier de Chaillot, Quartier d’Auteuil, Quartier de la Muette and Quartier de la Porte Dauphine.
QUARTIER DE CHAILLOT: In the 6th century, the village of Nimio was the only settlement in the Rouvray Forest (Bois de Boulogne), which once stretched on the western outskirts of Paris. It stood between the Seine and the current Place Etoile-Charles de Gaulle. In the 15th century, the village split into two distinct communes: Autolium-Altoil-Auteuil and Calcium-Chaillot. Chaillot was annexed to Paris in 1659 and officially became a Parisian district in 1787.
The QUARTIER D’AUTEUIL developed from the village of Altoil (Auteuil), which stretched across the western slope of the Colline de Chaillot, between the Seine and the Bois de Boulogne. The Abbey of Sainte-Geneviève acquired the village in the 11th century to found a new parish. The nuns also deforested the area to plant vines, thus generating great wealth until the French Revolution. Auteuil gained popularity in the 17th century, when wealthy Parisians began to build their private mansions there. Despite the arrival of the railway in the early 1850s and the creation of the Auteuil Hippodrome in 1873, Auteuil has retained its essentially residential character.
Passy –Pacey is part of the QUARTIER DE LA MUETTE and evolved from the Gallo-Roman domain of Paccius. Throughout its history, Passy has been renowned for its parks, its sumptuous private mansions and a spring whose waters were supposed to cure female infertility, but which dried up towards the end of the 19th century.
QUARTIER DE LA PORTE DAUPHINE: In the 17th century, the architect Philibert de l’Orme transformed a royal hunting lodge located on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne into an elegant castle, known as the Château de la Muette. The castle became national property during the French Revolution and was eventually divided into two plots. It was demolished, and the pavilions, staff quarters and part of the park were transformed into a leisure centre. The construction of the Auteuil railway line caused significant damage to the rest of the park, and the last structures were demolished in 1920. The Porte Dauphine, the entrance to the grounds of the Château de la Muette, was named in honour of Queen Marie Antoinette, wife of the Dauphin and future Louis XVI.
Unfortunately, the grand mansions and religious buildings constructed in these villages were destroyed during the French Revolution. This allowed Haussmann to develop and shape Paris 16th district according to his own vision with a vast network of elegant avenues, squares, parks, hotels and urban enclaves, pushing the boundaries of Paris westward.
Urbanisation of the area continued until the 1930s, leaving us with superb Art Nouveau buildings such as the Art Nouveau Castel Béranger, and various others in modern and Art Deco styles.
Metro stations serving Paris 16th District
Line 1: Charles de Gaulle-Etoile, Argentine, Porte Maillot
Line 2: Charles de Gaulle-Etoile, Victor Hugo, Porte Dauphine
Line 6: Charles de Gaulle-Etoile, Kléber, Boissière, Trocadéro, Passy
Line 9: Alma-Marceau, Iéna, Trocadéro, Rue de la Pompe, La Muette, Ranelagh, Jasmin, Michel-Ange-Auteuil, Michel-Ange-Molitor, Exelmans, Porte de Saint-Cloud
