Description of Buttes Chaumont

The 19th arrondissement covers a vast area in the north-east of Paris and conceals many faces. Among these, Paris’ most bucolic neighborhood, the Buttes Chaumont park and its residential surroundings.

Sinister Origins of the Buttes Chaumont

During the medieval age, this hill was a fairly desolate area. A few windmills were scattered here and there but the main purpose of the hill was o allow kings to render royal justice by publicly hanging people from a massive gallows, the gibbet of Montfaucon!

In the aftermath of the French revolution, the early 19th century saw the development on the hill of unsanitary activities like manufacture of agricultural chemicals and fertilizers, animal rendering and tanning. No need to say that Paris willingly kept these industries on the margins of the city to avoid the resulting nauseating smells!

Gypsum Quarries

The other important activity of the area during the first half of the 19th century was the extraction of gypsum from the soil to produce a quality plaster for the many constructions in Paris.

Integration into Paris and Creation of the Park

From 1860 and the integration of Buttes Chaumont into Paris, quarries were made illegal as in the rest of Paris. However, this past activity shaped today’s look of the neighborhood. Ground was so unsteady that only a park or modest low-rise housing could be constructed. This is how the Buttes Chaumont park was born and secluded residential areas were raised in the surroundings — originally for the workers, now highly sought-after!

The Buttes Chaumont Park and Residential Gems Tour

On this tour, we’ll enjoy the perspectives on the city from the Buttes Chaumont park, hilliest and wildest-looking park of Paris. Then, we’ll feel like transported in the countryside when wandering around unexpected residential gems, with beautiful detached houses and flowered alleyways, completely out of the bustle of the city.

On our way, we’ll briefly evoke the history of the area adjacent to Belleville, and stop by a café or the grassy slopes of the park if the weather allows it to soak in the local atmosphere.