Montmartre I

The word Montmartre itself means hill of bones and there was found a burial ground full of bones that were assumed to be Christian martyrs atop the hill. But the year 250 AD something happened that has been talked about ever since. When St. Denis brought Christianity to Paris he was decapitated as his thanks, but he apparently picked up his head and walked about 6 miles to a place that is now known as St Denis. Believe it or not!!! there are statues all over Paris of St Denis with his head resting in the crook of his arm….including on the front of Notre Dame.

About 1100 the church of St Pierre de Montmartre (St Peters) was built atop the hill where it still stands and in 1534 it was in this area that St. Ignatius Loyola founded the Jesuit movement. There was a large nunnery here also that largely attended the vineyards in the area.

By the 1850’s during the time that Baron Haussman was tearing apart the Paris area and replacing it with the wide, straight streets that we know today, many people were relocated to the outskirts of the city. One of these places of relocation was the Montmartre area which increased the population of that area tremendously. After the Paris Commune political affair of 1871 (google it) the beautiful Sacre Coeur was built in 1876 of gleaming white stone and remains an outstanding church monument to this day.

You may know that in the 1900’s Montmartre became the gathering place for artists. Many lived and worked in this area where they could live with their modest income. Today it is still somewhat of an “artist’s colony” but much more. It has several large spaces where street musicians, artists and performers can “do their thing” and collect a few tips/fees for a later day. In front of the Sacre Coeur is a favorite place because it is a series of steps and flat places that can be used as a sitting and performing areas. On the weekend is a favorite time to go as you can enjoy a wide variety of talent and eat a decent meal without spending a lot of money. Too bad that lots of people have discovered this, but this adds a new dimension….people watching!!!