Place Denfert-Rochereau

Place Denfert-Rochereau serves as a grand intersection in southern Paris, but its name carries a clever piece of local wordplay. For much of its history, the area was known as Place d Enfer, or Hell Square, a name derived from the nearby toll gate that guarded the entrance to the city. After the Franco-Prussian War, the city decided to honor the military hero Colonel Pierre Philippe Denfert-Rochereau. Because the colonel’s name sounded nearly identical to the original hellish title, officials found it the perfect way to rename the square while keeping the phonetic roots of the location intact.