Square Léon Serpollet

Square Léon Serpollet occupies a steep slope where the earth rises sharply toward the heights of Montmartre. You will recognize it by the long, zig-zagging staircases and the terraced gardens that replace a once-industrial landscape. Léon Serpollet was an engineer who built the first steam-powered automobile capable of traveling at speed. His workshop stood on this very ground in the late nineteenth century. He tested his hissing, fire-breathing machines on these exact slopes before the city reclaimed the hill for public leisure.