Le Chabanais

You are approaching number 12 Rue Chabanais, a building that looks like any other quiet townhouse from the street. Behind this unassuming facade once stood the most opulent and famous brothel in Europe. From its opening in 1878 until 1946, it operated as a luxury destination for the global elite, including royalty, artists, and heads of state. The founder, an Irish woman known as Madame Kelly, invested nearly two million francs to create an atmosphere of total fantasy. Guests entered through a ground-floor lobby designed as a stone cave, complete with artificial rocks, gilded mosaics, and a constantly splashing waterfall.