The villages that formed Paris 20th District
Paris 20th district, or 20ème Arrondissement, on the right bank of the Seine, is often called the Quartier de Ménilmontant.
It is divided into four neighbourhoods: Quartier de Belleville, Quartier Saint-Fargeau, Quartier du Père-Lachaise and Quartier de Charonne.
The QUARTIER DE BELLEVILLE was created by merging the villages of Belleville, Ménilmontant, and Charonne during the territorial reform of 1860.
Around 2,000 years ago, the Romans cultivated the hillsides of Belleville and Ménilmontant with vines. This vineyard, called Courtille, produced a characteristic tangy wine, known over the centuries as guinguet.
Mesnilium Mautenz (Ménilmontant) developed around a large Roman agricultural estate, or “mesnil“, located on a hill south of Belleville.
These villages, perched on the heights of Paris, were renowned for the quality of their air, which (already) attracted Parisians in search of relaxation and entertainment away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Soon, cafes, inns, cabarets, and open-air restaurants opened. In the 1780s, the wall of the general farmers was built across these villages, leaving half outside the fiscal enclosure, thus forming two distinct zones, La Haute and la Basse Courtille. The Haute Courtille was located outside the tax boundaries, below the rue de Belleville, where open-air cafes and inns could be set up, exempt from taxes.
In the 1780s, the Mur des Fermiers Généraux (Wall of the Farmers-General) was built through these villages. This wall was punctuated by gates where merchants had to pay customs duties before entering Paris and selling their goods. It also ran through these villages, leaving half outside the tax perimeter, forming two distinct zones: Haute Courtille (upper) and Basse Courtille (lower). The Haute Courtille, below the Rue de Belleville, was located outside the tax boundaries and attracted a multitude of tax-exempt cafes and inns. The Basse Courtille extended as far as the present-day Rue du Faubourg-du-Temple.
The QUARTIER SAINT-FARGEAU takes its name from the Château de Ménilmontant, also known as the Château de Saint-Fargeau, which remained the property of the Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau family until the French Revolution. Louis Michel Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau, a deputy of the nobility to the General States of 1789, was elected president of the Constituent Assembly in 1790 and became a member of the government of the National Convention. In 1792, he voted for the execution of Louis XVI, but was later assassinated by a former servant of the king. His daughter was adopted by the Nation and sold the castle of Saint-Fargeau. It was demolished, and its 23-hectare estate was subdivided and sold in individual plots.
The development of the QUARTIER DE CHARONNE and QUARTIER DU PÈRE-LACHAISE was intertwined. The origins of the village of Cadarona (Charonne) remain unknown, but we know that the lands and the castle of Charonne, demolished in 1857, belonged to the Abbey of Saint-Magloire. Over time, Charonne has divided into four distinct hamlets: Fontaraby, Petit Charonne (near the current Place de la Nation), Mont-Louis (now part of the Père-Lachaise cemetery) and the Château de Bagnolet. The latter two were the most densely populated. The inhabitants of Charonne worked in the surrounding vineyards or lime quarries.
In 1790, the hamlets were merged to form the commune of Charonne, except for Petit Charonne, which was attached to Paris. Paris eventually absorbed most of Charonne during the territorial reform of 1860. Windmills disappeared, and lime quarries and vineyards were built, but the district has preserved the memory of this rural past in the names of its streets, such as Rue des Haies (Hedges) or Rue des Prairies (meadows).
20th district’s identity
The population of Belleville and Ménilmontant quintupled in the decade following the French Revolution. The enclaves that had not been integrated into Paris in 1860 attracted a working-class population facing extreme poverty and very difficult living and working conditions. These enclaves were the starting point for the 1848 uprising and the Paris Commune of 1871. As a result, Paris 20th district was associated for decades with leftist and anarchist values.
Metro stations serving Paris 20th District
Line 2: Belleville, Couronnes, Ménilmontant, Père Lachaise, Philippe-Auguste, Alexandre Dumas, Avron, Nation
Line 3: Père Lachaise, Gambetta, Porte de Bagnolet
Line 3bis: Porte des Lilas, Saint-Fargeau, Pelleport, Gambetta
Line 9: Nation, Buzenval, Maraîchers, Porte de Montreuil
Line 11: Belleville, Pyrénées, Jourdain, Place des Fêtes, Télégraphe, Porte des Lilas
