The Cour du Commerce Saint-André is a narrow, stone-paved passage tucked behind heavy wooden doors, running between the Boulevard Saint-Germain and the Rue de l'Ancienne Comédie. Its jagged walls date back to the seventeenth century, built directly over the foundations of a defensive wall constructed by Philip Augustus. In seventeen ninety-two, a surgeon named Antoine Louis tested a new mechanical device for decapitation in a courtyard here. It functioned perfectly on a sheep, clearing the way for the invention of the guillotine.
Cour du Commerce Saint-André
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