Grenelle (2)

Referring to the previous post about Grenelle, my intention was not really to show a church again, but this one is so different. It is called Saint-Léon and was built 1924-33, in concrete, covered by brick. Both the exterior and the interior are in a for those days typical art deco style.

The original Grenelle 19th century buildings have to some extent been replaced and completed by more modern ones. During the first years of thye 20th century, some architects have excelled in art nouveau style, perhaps here more visible by the decoration of the buildings than by the architecture itself, so maybe more due to the sculptors.

Please notice the roots of the vines covering this building.

The Grenelle area is also known for having hosted the Paris winter cycling stadium – Vélodrome d’Hiver – best known as “Vel d’Hiv”. The building was destroyed in 1959. Unfortunately the name is especially linked to an event in 1942, during the Nazi occupation. Some 8000 Jews, where of 4115 children, spent five days here in terrible conditions before most of them ended up in Auschwitz.

In 1995, Jacques Chirac, soon after he became President, said: “Yes, the criminal madness of the occupier was seconded by the French, by the French State, everyone knows it. That day, France accomplished something irreparable.”

Close to where the "Vel d’Hiv" stood, on the Seine bank, is today a “Place des Martyrs-Juifs”, opened in 1986. The monument is there since 1994 and was created by Walter Spitzer, born in Poland, who managed to come back alive from the ghetto, Auschwitz, Buchenwald…).

Grenelle (1)

I don't know hat happened, but this post was published May 12, got some comments, disappeared, lost its comments... Now published again, May 13 late.

I noticed that after some four years of blogging about Paris, I had not yet published anything about this part of the 15th arrondissement, referred to as Grenelle. Until the 19th century this was a more or less unexploited area not yet part of Paris , even hardly used as farm land. Then, a certain Mr. Violet (and some associates) bought the land and started to have it exploited. We are then actually talking about the area south of the border represented by the red dotted line on the plan here below; north of it was already Paris. The Paris border was until 1860 situated where we today at some places, like here, can see an over-ground part of the metro (see top photo with Invalides in the background) and where we those days would find the wall “Fermiers Généraux” (tax farmers) (see previous post). Grenelle as well as other villages around Paris (Montmartre, Batignolles, Belleville, Charonne….) became thus in 1860 part of the growing Paris and the wall disappeared.

Mr. Violet allotted the area in a very rectangular way, something we hardly find elsewhere in Paris. The reason was of course that we were on virgin land and that no older roads or streets influenced the planning. For himself, he built a little "castle", rather soon transformed into a fire station. In front of the station is a very nice example of the special red lamps that you generally find in front of these stations.

What you may consider as one of the major streets is Rue de Commerce with Place de Commerce, a little square with a building which was the “town hall” until Grenelle became part of Paris and the 15th arrondissement.

Along the street you can also find the “Café de Commerce”, a three story brasserie, which opened in 1921.

There are still a lot of the original buildings around in the area and a surprising number of little squares.

I took also some photos behind some closed gates, but I’m not indicating the addresses; people who live there prefer of course not to have too many “tourists” around.

There are some more remarkable buildings and monuments to be found, but I will revert on that in a later post.