La Petite Alsace sits behind a simple iron gate, hiding a cluster of forty timber-framed houses arranged around a communal garden. Built in nineteen twelve by an architect named Jean Walter, these homes provided affordable housing for…
Butte aux Cailles Village
This walk leads you through a hilltop enclave of low-rise cottages, art deco brick villas, and green cul-de-sacs that escaped Paris's grand 19th-century modernization. You will see neighborhood churches, quiet squares, and locals filling bottles with fresh artesian water at a natural spring.
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1. La Petite Alsace
2. Villa Daviel
Villa Daviel stands out for its quiet, cobblestone lane that cuts through the dense urban fabric of the thirteenth arrondissement. This private cul-de-sac preserves a collection of brick and stone houses from the nineteen-twenties, built…
3. St. Anne's Church in the Butte-aux-Cailles
St. Anne's Church stands out for its bold Byzantine style, characterized by a massive bell tower and arched entrances that contrast with the surrounding village-like houses of the Butte-aux-Cailles. Architect Prosper Bobin designed the…
4. Square des Peupliers
The Square des Peupliers is a private, cobblestone lane that curves in a gentle arc, lined with small houses draped in wisteria and ivy. It sits on the bed of the vanished Bièvre River, a waterway that once powered the tanneries of this…
5. Square Henri Rousselle
Square Henri Rousselle features a bronze bust of a man perched on a stone pedestal, overlooking a small, fenced garden tucked between the steep, narrow streets of the Butte-aux-Cailles. Henri Rousselle served as a local politician in the…
6. Place Paul Verlaine
Place Paul Verlaine is a small, quiet square anchored by a heavy, square brick water tower that looms over the neighborhood. The tower dates back to nineteen hundred and two and remains a functioning part of the city water system. When the…