Royal Street in Paris, Concorde shopping to Madeleine, its village

Rue Royale in Paris is a 282-meter-long thoroughfare located in the 8th arrondissement, between Place de la Concorde and Place and Église de la Madeleine.

Rue Royale in Paris is a former marshland connecting Place Louis XV (Place de la Concorde) to the site where Église de la Madeleine stands today. Architect Gabriel, while designing Place de la Concorde, also created this street, lined with grand townhouses for the aristocracy.

Today, Rue Royale in Paris is a prestigious thoroughfare, home to the greatest luxury brands, particularly in fashion (Gucci, Dior and many others) and gastronomy. Indeed, it is on this street that one finds the famous Maxim’s as well as Ladurée, renowned worldwide for its macarons. Rue Royale runs perpendicular to Rue Saint-Honoré (with its famous couturiers, led by Hermès) and the Champs-Élysées.

Don’t forget to admire the perspective created by the buildings of the National Assembly to the west, across the Place de la Concorde and the Seine, as well as the Église de la Madeleine to the east.
Origin of the name
This rue Royale in Paris replaced the “Porte Saint-Honoré,” which stood at the corner of rue Saint-Honoré, built under Louis XIII and destroyed in 1733. The street was laid out in accordance with the letters patent of 21 June 1737, by which King Louis XV ordered “that the façades of the buildings to be erected in the new street be designed in a uniform architectural style.” The name of the street leading to the Place Louis XV (later renamed Place de la Concorde), created around 1755–1760 with the king’s statue at its center, was naturally “royale.”
Construction of the first section of the street
This refers to the section of rue Royale located between the Place de la Concorde (then called Place Louis XV) and rues Saint-Honoré and du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré.

The "rue Royale des Tuileries," as it was then known, was begun in 1758, following a uniform façade design by Ange-Jacques Gabriel. This lavish real estate venture was conceived to accompany the creation of Place Louis XV (now Place de la Concorde) and was primarily executed by the architect and contractor Louis Le Tellier. He replicated similar decorative plans and formulas from one lot to the next. These buildings feature five levels, with the second floor always designated as the noble floor. The grand staircase is located at the junction of the courtyard return and the street-facing building. The southern end of the street, leading to Place de la Concorde, is framed by two identical grand townhouses by Gabriel, whose columned façades dominate the square: the Hôtel de la Marine to the east (now a museum) and the Hôtel des Monnaies to the west (now the Hôtel de Crillon and headquarters of the Automobile Club de France).
The rue Royale and the crowd disaster of 1770
On May 30, 1770, during the festivities celebrating the marriage of the Dauphin (the future Louis XVI) and Marie-Antoinette, a fatal stampede resulted in 132 deaths and numerous injuries. How could the Parisian police, envied throughout Europe, have failed so spectacularly?

As evening fell, spectators thronged toward Place Louis-XV (now Place de la Concorde). The Attorney General Séguier estimated their number at 400,000, while writer Louis-Sébastien Mercier claimed that two out of every three Parisians were outside. Chaos erupted when the crowd in the square tried to head north to the fair on the boulevards, while the fairground workers attempted to reach Place Louis-XV. The two groups collided on Rue Royale, blocked by a line of waiting carriages.

In the wake of the tragedy, the Parliament of Paris launched an inquiry in response to public outrage. The investigation was likely to involve the city’s top police officials—the prévôt des marchands (head of the Parisian municipality), the Bureau de la Ville, the lieutenant general of police, and the Châtelet—as well as the officers of the Parisian guard and militia.

The investigation highlighted the lack of cohesion among the troops responsible for maintaining order. Following this, a new regulation confirmed the Lieutenant General of Police's future dominance over public order maintenance.
The Revolution and the Rue Royale in Paris
With such a name, the Rue Royale could not avoid being particularly targeted during the French Revolution. Around 1792, it was renamed "Rue de la Révolution." Later, it became "Rue Royale Saint-Honoré," and then, in 1795, "Rue de la Concorde," in a spirit of appeasement during those turbulent times, linked to the new name of the Place Louis XV. It regained its original name by prefectural decree on April 27, 1814.
Construction of the 2nd section of the Rue Royale
By ordinance of June 20, 1824, the area around the Église de la Madeleine was redeveloped and several streets opened, while the Rue Royale was extended. King Louis XVIII died on September 16, 1824.

The extension of the Rue Royale between the Rue Saint-Honoré and the Église de la Madeleine, increasing its width from 22.80 m to 43 m.
Article 1: The alignments of new constructions are clearly defined on the plan.
Article 2: Owners of neighboring buildings will be required to respect the indicated alignments for any construction they wish to undertake.

Residential Rue Royale becomes one of Paris’s luxury shopping districts
The transformation was gradual after the Restoration. From the late 19th century, however, Rue Royale emerged as one of the city’s leading luxury shopping hubs. Major jewelers left the Palais-Royal area to set up shop on Rue Royale. Today, it is home to luxury brands such as Chanel, Dior, Gucci, and Cerruti.
The 1871 Paris Commune uprising and the fire on Rue Royale
The bloody revolt of the Commune, which engulfed Paris in the spring of 1871, did not spare Rue Royale. It was only toward the end of the insurrection, however, that the buildings at numbers 15, 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, and 27 were set ablaze, leaving the area heavily scarred by the fighting. The fire began on May 24, 1871—five days before the Commune’s final collapse.
Rue Royale: remarkable buildings and monuments steeped in history

N° 1, on the north side of rue Royale, in the former Hôtel des Monnaies, where the treaties recognizing the independence of the United States of America were signed by France under Louis XVI. The first treaty recognizing the independence of the United States was signed on February 6, 1778, by Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, Arthur Lee, and the Frenchman Conrad Alexandre Gérard. The name "Hôtel des Monnaies" comes from the fact that the centralization of coin production had been considered for this building, though the final choice was made for the building at 6 quai Conti, in the 6th arrondissement.
Between place de la Concorde and the Maxim’s restaurant, on the south pillar of the entrance to n° 1, a reproduction of a 1914 French mobilization poster can be seen. The original poster, long forgotten and damaged by time, was replaced by a similar one, protected by a display case. N° 2 rue Royale now houses the Musée Hôtel de la Marine. Until the French Revolution, it served as the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne, where royal furniture was stored. For two centuries, it was the headquarters of the French Navy, until 2015, when it was fully restored. Part of the building is now a museum attached to the Centre des Monuments Nationaux and open to the public. N° 3: this is the Hôtel de Richelieu. The Maxim’s restaurant has occupied this address since 1893. It stands out for its Art Nouveau façade and interior décor (1899). Maxim’s is today owned by the heirs of fashion designer Pierre Cardin. In 2020, the restaurant is open from Wednesday to Saturday, for lunch from 12:30 to 14:00 and for dinner from 19:30 to 22:00. No. 5: former address of the Molyneux fashion boutique, founded in 1919. Edward Molyneux, nicknamed “Captain Molyneux,” born in London on September 5, 1891, and died in Monte Carlo on March 23, 1974, was a British fashion designer and perfumer. In 1935(?), the perfume Rue Royale (sic) is said to have been created here. No. 6: Hôtel Le Roy de Senneville, built in 1769 by Louis Le Tellier for Jean-François Le Roy de Senneville (1715–1784). It was later occupied by Marc-Antoine Randon de La Tour, treasurer general of the King’s household, sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Tribunal on July 7, 1794, and guillotined the same day. Madame de Staël rented the apartment overlooking the courtyard during her final stay in Paris, beginning in October 1816, and lived there in seclusion after suffering an apoplectic stroke in February 1817 while on her way to a ball at the Duc Decazes’s residence. She died on July 14, 1817, in a house belonging to Sophie Gay, near rue Neuve-des-Mathurins. In 1881, before also occupying No. 9, the renowned decorating firm Jansen moved into the bay to the left of the carriage entrance, incorporating the former apartment of Mme de Staël. To the right of the carriage entrance, in 1901, the jeweler Fouquet had a remarkable Art Nouveau-style decor created for his shop, designed by Alfons Mucha and executed with the help of Maison Jansen. On the upper floor, two salons have retained their original decor from the 1770s. The carriage passage still features its flat vaulted ceiling. The grand staircase, with its wrought-iron railing in Louis XV style, remains intact. No. 8: Hôtel de La Tour du Pin-Gouvernet, built in 1769 by Louis Le Tellier. The architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel once lived there. Adrien Hébrard, owner of the Hébrard foundry, set up a gallery there where he exhibited works by his artists. In 1933, the haute couture house Jenny Sacerdote moved in. It closed in 1940. No. 9: Hotel built by Louis Le Tellier after 1781. Louis-Nicolas-Joseph Robillard de Péronville, father of Jacques-Florent Robillard, Baron of the Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte and publisher of the *Musée Royal* for Napoleon Bonaparte and the *Musée National*, died there on July 24, 1809. Jacques-Florent Robillard, Baron de Magnanville, born on July 19, 1757, in Étampes and died on April 5, 1834, in Versailles, was a French merchant who was one of the first regents of the Bank of France, then a private institution representing the 200 largest French fortunes ("the 200 families"). The Bank of France was finally nationalized in 1946 by General de Gaulle.
In the same building on Rue Royale, François Alexandre Frédéric de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt died on March 27, 1827. Founder in 1780 of the engineering school that still exists today and would later become ENSAM (École nationale supérieure des Arts et Métiers), a few years before Polytechnique (1794), he was a close confidant of Louis XVI. A fervent advocate of constitutional monarchy, he was isolated at Court. It was he who announced the storming of the Bastille to the king as he rose on July 15, 1789. “But is this a revolt?” Louis XVI exclaimed, alarmed by the unrest among the people. He replied: “No, sire, it is a revolution.”
The Duke traveled extensively abroad to study the best industrial and agricultural techniques, which he tested on his estate at Liancourt before 1789, and even more so after, when he was exiled as an émigré.
At his death in 1827, the students of Arts et Métiers, who had come from Compiègne to Paris to pay their respects to their benefactor, were denied the right to carry his coffin. They clashed with the henchmen who refused to let go. The Duke’s coffin opened on the sidewalk… The Duke now rests in the family vault at the Liancourt cemetery (Oise). His first funerary monument was reconstructed in the “ferme de Liancourt,” a property of the Fondation des Ingénieurs des Arts et Métiers, which now serves as a conference center. The Arts and Métiers Engineers also own a private mansion at 9 bis, avenue d’Iéna – 75116 PARIS, between Trocadéro and the Arc de Triomphe. Its sumptuous salons house a gourmet restaurant, once reserved for members but now open to all at moderate prices (tel. 33 1 40 69 27 00).
No. 11: mansion built by Louis Le Tellier after 1781. The large salon with chamfered corners was relocated to the Nissim-de-Camondo Museum in Paris, and the bedroom to the Errázuriz Palace (es), decorative arts museum in Buenos Aires. Queen Nathalie of Serbia (1859-1941) lived there. Brunner exhibition hall in 1910. No. 13: mansion built by Louis Le Tellier, also after 1781. The writer Jean Baptiste Antoine Suard, permanent secretary of the Académie française, died there on 20 July 1817. A salon from the apartment overlooking the street was relocated to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania). No. 14, at the corner of rue Saint-Honoré: on the site of the Crédit Lyonnais agency, which has been there since at least 1910, a cabaret called La Porte Saint-Honoré stood at the end of the 19th century. The name recalled the former gate in Louis XIII’s city wall, which once stood here and was demolished in 1733. The physiologist Claude Bernard lived in this house in 1859. On April 5, 1939, the building became the headquarters of L’Oréal, whose main shareholder at the time was Eugène Schueller, and whose descendants (the Bettencourt Meyers family) still are today. The company occupies all the buildings at this address, extending as far as rue Saint-Florentin, which runs parallel to it. No. 15: Heurgon jeweler, founded in 1865. Since then, this famous Parisian brand has expanded throughout the building and up to 25, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré. This PARIS 8 BOUTIQUE is located just a few dozen meters away, at 58, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris. No. 16: the Ladurée pastry shop was founded at this address on rue Royale in 1862. In 1871, after the building was destroyed by fire during the Commune, the pastry shop was transformed into a tea salon. Ernest Ladurée had the idea of combining Parisian coffee and pastry-making, thus giving rise to one of the capital’s first tea salons. It was a meeting place for women who had abandoned the more fashionable circles. The building is listed and has retained the same decor since its reconstruction after the fire. Ladurée is a thriving company still renowned for its macarons, with several boutiques in Paris and around the world. No. 20: Photographer Eugène Druet opened an art gallery here in 1908. No. 21: This building housed the Weber brasserie from 1899 to 1961. Before 1914, it was a meeting place for writers, journalists, and artists. After the riots of February 6, 1934 (a street demonstration in Paris organized by several far-right leagues; police fired and killed 15 demonstrators), the wounded were taken to Weber for first aid. From 1905, it was owned by hotelier Arthur Millon, then by his son-in-law René Kieffer (1880–1945).
No. 22: The Duke of Pasquier died at this address in 1862.
No. 23: Built in 1907 on the site of a former evangelical mission hall and a temporary theater known as the Théâtre Royal (1906). In 1889, photographer Eugène Pirou had his studios here.
No. 24: Jean-Jacques Lubin (1765–1794), painter and member of the Paris Commune uprising, was guillotined on 11 Thermidor, Year II (July 29, 1794). He lived at 24 rue de la Révolution (formerly rue Royale) at the time of his execution.
Môme, a humorist of the Belle Époque era, renowned for his biting wit, absurd humor, and wordplay, including holorhymes. He is sometimes regarded as one of the greatest storytellers in the French language.
No. 25: Entrance to the Cité Berryer, which extends to 24 rue Boissy-d'Anglas; site of the former Aguesseau market, inaugurated in July 1746. From 1927 to 1987, the fifth floor housed the Keystone photographic press agency. It was in 1746, on an undeveloped plot of land, that this district was born on the border between the Cour de Commerce and the hidden Passage. The area was highly sought-after at the time. The structures and façades of the buildings, classified as historic monuments since 1987, were preserved during the renovations of the 1990s. Today, no longer lined with food shops, the Cité Berryer is bordered by luxury boutiques (Dior, Chanel, Alain Martinière...). Its charming houses, flower-filled balconies, cobblestone streets, and vintage lampposts create a picturesque scene. At numbers 27 and 3 place de la Madeleine, a building once housed the Brasserie Autrichienne, severely damaged by shelling during the Commune in late May 1871. The Restaurant Larue, opened at the same location in 1886, welcomed Proust in the early 1900s and hosted the monthly "Dîner Bixio" gatherings from 1924 to 1925. At number 33 (now demolished), there was a drinking establishment called the Irish and American Bar, frequented by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who sketched several scenes there, including Gabriel Sue and the clown duo Foottit and Chocolat.