In the 19th arrondissement, Butte Bergeyre is a hill with a village feel, perched a few steps away from the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont. It remains one of those rare micro-neighborhoods spared from Parisian traffic.
Hidden a hundred meters above sea level, this residential – and let’s face it, rather affluent – neighborhood is now home to many small houses and villas, a few vines (producing around 100 liters of pinot noir per year), and a shared garden maintained by the neighborhood. The intersection of Rue Georges Lardennois and Rue Rémy de Gourmont, overlooking the vineyards, offers one of Paris’ most scenic views of the hill of Montmartre.
An associative grocery store, L’Utopicerie, is now the only local business. It hosts the Butte Bergeyre residents’ association, as well as workshops and exhibitions. More than a thousand people live in the neighborhood, whose small buildings and houses were built from the 1920s, on a gypsum ground which served several purposes throughout recent history: pasture until the dawn of the 20th century, amusement park (Les Folles Buttes) between 1909 and 1926, and even multi-purpose stadium! The butte takes its name from the venue that hosted football matches in the 1924 Olympic Games and honored a rugby player from the local club who fell at the front in August 1914, Robert Bergeyre.
The neighborhood has only six streets, most of which are still paved with cobblestones. Among the few ways to access it are the stairs located at 54 Avenue Simon Bolivar, immortalized in a 1950 photograph by Willy Ronis. Other stairways connect the Butte Bergeyre to the lawns of Buttes-Chaumont from 17-21 Rue Manin. On the north side, Rue Georges Lardennois also leads to the heights of the neighborhood, with a double access via the stairs of Rue Michel Tagrine.
Butte Bergeyre
Rue Barrelet de Ricou / Rémy de Gourmont / Rue Philippe Hecht / Rue Georges Lardennois / Rue Edgar Poe / Rue Michel Tagrine
75019 Paris
Would you like to know more about the history and neighborhoods of eastern Paris? Don’t hesitate to check our local guides:
– Charming passages and secret courtyards of Eastern Paris
– History, heritage, architecture: record-breaking sites of Eastern Paris
– In pictures: In the footsteps of Édith Piaf around Eastern Paris
Photo Credit © Paris Lights Up
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