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

Royal-Street in Paris is a 282 m-long thoroughfare in the 8th arrondissement, between Place de la Concorde and Place et Eglise de la Madeleine.

Royal-Street in Paris is a former marshland linking Place Louis XV (Place de la Concorde) to the area where the Eglise de la Madeleine stands today. Architect Gabriel, while designing the Place de la Concorde, also created the street, with mansions for the wealthy.

Today, Royal-Street in Paris is a prestigious street, home to some of the biggest names in luxury, particularly in clothing (Gucci, Dior and many others) and gastronomy. In fact, it's on this street that you'll find the famous Maxim's establishment and Ladurée, world-famous for its macaroons. Royal-Street is perpendicular to Rue Saint-Honoré (and its famous couturiers, led by Hermès), and to the Champs Elysées.

Don't forget to admire the perspective formed by the buildings of the Assemblée Nationale to the west, across the Concorde Square and the Seine river, and the Eglise de la Madeleine to the east.

Origin of the name

This Royal-Street in Paris replaced "Porte Saint-Honoré", which stood at the corner of Rue Saint-Honoré, built under Louis XIII and destroyed in 1733. The street was built in accordance with the letters patent of June 21, 1737, in which King Louis XV ordered "that the facades of the buildings to be erected in the new street would be established according to a uniform architecture". The name of the street leading to Place Louis XV (now Place de la Concorde), created around 1755-60 with the king's statue at its center, is naturally "royal".

Construction of the 1st section of the street

This is the section of Royal-Street between Place de la Concorde (or Square Louis XV at the time) and Rue Saint Honoré and Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

The "Rue Royale des Tuileries" as it was told at that time, was begun in 1758, based on a uniform facade design by Ange-Jacques Gabriel. This luxurious subdivision was designed to accompany the creation of Place Louis XV (de la Concorde), and was built mainly by architect and contractor Louis Le Tellier. He reproduced similar plans and decorative formulas from one lot to the next. These buildings comprise five levels, the second floor always being the noble floor. The grand staircase is located at the junction of the return wing of the courtyard building and the street building. The southern end of the street, leading to Place de la Concorde, is flanked by two identical hotels by Gabriel, whose colonnaded facades overlook 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 Royal-Street and the crowd movement disaster of 1770

On May 30, 1770, during the celebrations for the wedding of the Dauphin (future Louis XVI) and Marie-Antoinette, a fatal stampede claimed 132 victims and injured many more. How could the Paris police force, envied throughout Europe, have failed so badly?

At the end of the day, spectators flocked to Place Louis-XV (now Place de la Concorde). Advocate General Séguier put the figure at 400,000, while writer Louis-Sébastien Mercier claimed that 2 out of 3 Parisians were out and about. The chaos began when the crowd on the square tried to reach north the fair on the boulevards, while the fair-goers tried to reach the Place Louis-XV. The two columns met in the Royale Street, blocked by a line of waiting cars.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, the Parliament of Paris launched an inquiry in response to public outrage. The investigation was likely to involve the main players in the city's police force, the Provost of the Merchants (the head of the Paris municipality) and the Bureau de la Ville, the Lieutenant General of Police and the Châtelet, as well as the officers of the Paris Guard and the Watch.

The investigation highlighted the lack of cohesion among the troops responsible for maintaining order. At the end of the investigation, a new regulation confirmed for the future the hegemony of the Lieutenant General of Police over the maintenance of public order.

The Revolution and the Royal-Street in Paris

Of course, with a name like that, rue Royale was bound to be particularly targeted during the French Revolution. Around 1792, rue Royale was renamed "rue de la Révolution". It then became later "rue Royale Saint-Honoré" and, in 1795, "rue de la Concorde", in a spirit of appeasement in these troubled times, and in connection with the new name of Place Louis XV. It was given back its original name by prefectoral decree on April 27, 1814.

Construction of the 2nd section of Royal-Street

By order of June 20, 1824, the area around the Madeleine church was redeveloped and several lanes opened, while the Royal-Street was extended. King Louis XVIII died on September 16, 1824.

The extension of Royal-Street between Rue Saint Honoré and Eglise de la Madeleine from 22.80 m to 43 m.
Article 1: the alignments of the new houses are clearly defined on the plan.
Article 2: Owners of neighboring properties will be required to conform to the alignments indicated for any constructions they wish to erect.
The residential Royal-Street becomes one of Paris's luxury shopping districts
Evolution was slow after the Restoration. From the end of the 19th century onwards, however, Rue Royale became one of Paris's leading centers of luxury commerce. The great jewelers moved from the Palais-Royal district to rue Royale. Today, the stores of luxury brands such as Chanel, Dior, Gucci and Cerruti can be found here.

The Commune insurrection of 1871 and the Royal-Street fire

The bloody Commune uprising that set Paris ablaze in the spring of 1871 did not spare Rue Royale. It was only at the end of the insurrection, however, that the houses bearing nos. 15, 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25 and 27 were set on fire, and the neighborhood suffered greatly during the fighting. The fire started on May 24, 1871, 5 days before the end of the Commune insurrection.

Royal Street: remarkable buildings and memorials steeped in history

• • N° 1 on the north side, of Royal-Street, in the former Hôtel des Monnaies, where the treaties recognizing the independence of the United States of America were signed by Louis XVI's France. The 1st treaty recognizing the independence of the United States was signed on February 6, 1778, by Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, Arthur Lee and Frenchman Conrad Alexandre Gérard. The name "Hotel des Monnaies" derives from the fact that the centralization of coinage had been envisaged in this building, but the final choice fell on the building at 6 Quai Conti, in the 6th arrondissement.
    Between the Place de la Concorde and the Maxim's restaurant on the south pillar of the entrance to no. 1, you can see a facsimile of a 1914 French mobilization poster. The original poster was long forgotten, deteriorated over time and was replaced by a similar one, protected by a glass case.
  • No. 2 rue Royale is now the Museum Hôtel de la Marine. Until the French Revolution, it was the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne des meubles royaux (storage of the King's furniture). 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 visitors.
  • No. 3: this is the Hôtel de Richelieu. Maxim's restaurant has been established at this address since 1893. It is remarkable for its Art Nouveau façade and interior decor (1899). Maxim's is now owned by the heirs of fashion designer Pierre Cardin. In 2020, Maxim's is open from Wednesday to Saturday, for lunch from 12.30 to 2pm and for dinner from 7.30 to 10pm.
  • No. 5: former address of Molyneux fashion boutique, established in 1919. Edward Molyneux, known as "Captain Molyneux", born in London on September 5, 1891, and died in Monte Carlo on March 23, 1974, was a British couturier and perfumer. In 1935(?), Rue Royal (sic) perfume was apparently 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). He was succeeded by Marc-Antoine Randon de La Tour. Treasurer General of the King's household, he was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court on July 7, 1794, and guillotined the same day.
    Madame de Staël rented the courtyard apartment during her last stay in Paris, from October 1816, and lived there as a recluse after suffering a stroke in February 1817 on her way to a ball at the home of Duke Decazes. She died on July 14, 1817 in a house belonging to Sophie Gay, near the rue Neuve-des-Mathurins.
    In 1881, before also occupying no. 9, the famous Jansen decorating house moved into the bay to the left of the porte cochère, incorporating Mme de Staël's former apartment.
    To the right of the porte cochère, in 1901 the jeweller Fouquet commissioned a remarkable 1900s-style décor for his store, designed by Alfons Mucha and produced with the help of Maison Jansen.On the upper floor, two salons have retained their original 1770s decor. The carriage entrance still has its flat vaulted ceiling. The grand staircase, with its Louis XV-era wrought-iron banister, remains.
  • No. 8: Hôtel de La Tour du Pin-Gouvernet, built in 1769 by Louis Le Tellier. The architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel once lived here. Adrien Hébrard, owner of the Hébrard foundry, had a gallery here where he presented the works of his artists. In 1933, Jenny Sacerdote's haute couture house moved in. Her house 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 d'Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte, publisher of the "Musée Royal" for Napoleon Bonaparte and "Musée National", died here on July 24, 1809. Jacques-Florent Robillard, baron de Magnanville, born July 19, 1757 in Étampes and died April 5, 1834 in Versailles, was a French merchant who was one of the first regents of the Banque de France, when it was privately owned and represented the two hundred largest French fortunes (the "200 families"). Banque de France was finally nationalized in 1946 by General de Gaulle.
    In the same building of Royal Street, 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 become ENSAM (Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Métiers), a few years before Polytechnique (1794), he was an intimate of Louis XVI. He was also a fervent supporter of a Constitutional Monarchy, but 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?" exclaimed Louis XVI, frightened by the people's agitation. He replied, "No, sire, it's a revolution".
    The Duc traveled extensively abroad to learn the best of industry and agriculture, which he experimented with on his Liancourt estate before 1789 and even more so afterwards, when he was exiled as an émigré. >br>When he died in 1827, the Elèves des Ars et Métiers, who had come to Paris (from Compiègne) to pay tribute to their benefactor, were refused permission to carry his coffin. They came to blows with the bogeymen, who wouldn't let go. The Duc's coffin fell open on the sidewalk... the Duc is now buried in the family monument in the Liancourt (Oise) cemetery. His first funerary monument was reassembled in the "ferme de Liancourt", owned by the Fondation des Ingénieurs des Arts et Métiers, which serves as a conference center. The Ingénieurs Arts et Métiers also own a private mansion at 9 bis, avenue d'Iéna - 75116 PARIS, between Trocadéro and Arc de Triomphe. Its superb salons feature a gourmet restaurant, once reserved for members, now open to all at an affordable price (tel 33 1 40 69 27 00).
  • No. 11: hotel built by Louis Le Tellier, after 1781. The grand salon with its canted sides was reassembled in Paris at the Musée Nissim-de-Camondo, and the bedroom at the Palacio Errázuriz (es), Buenos Aires' Museum of Decorative Arts. Queen Nathalie of Serbia (1859-1941) lived here. Brunner exhibition hall in 1910.
  • No. 13: hotel built by Louis Le Tellier, also after 1781. The writer Jean Baptiste Antoine Suard, perpetual secretary of the Académie française, died in this building on July 20, 1817. A salon from the apartment on the street was remounted at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  • No. 14, corner of rue Saint-Honoré: on the site of the Crédit Lyonnais branch, which has stood here since at least 1910, a cabaret bearing the name La Porte Saint-Honoré stood at the end of the 19th century. Its name recalled the former gate of Louis XIII's enceinte, which stood on this site and was demolished in 1733. Physiologist Claude Bernard lived in this house in 1859.
    On April 5, 1939, the building became the headquarters of L'Oréal, whose main shareholder was Eugène Schueller, and today his descendants (Bettencourt Meyers family). The company's premises occupy all the buildings belonging to this number, and extend as far as rue Saint-Florentin, which runs parallel to it.
  • No. 15: Heurgon Jewellers, founded in 1865. Since then, this famous Parisian brand has spread throughout the building and to 25 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré. This BOUTIQUE PARIS 8 is just a few dozen meters away, at 58, Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris.
  • No. 16: the Ladurée bakery was founded at this address of Royal Street in 1862. In 1871, after the fire of the building due to the Commune uprising, the bakery was transformed into a pastry shop. Ernest Ladurée came up with the idea of blending the Parisian café and the pastry shop, thus creating one of the capital's first tea rooms. It was a meeting place for women who had abandoned the more fashionable circles. The building is listed and has retained the same décor since it was rebuilt after the fire. Ladurée is a capital-intensive company that is still famous for its macaroons, with several stores 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 brewery from 1899 to 1961. Before 1914, it was a meeting place for writers, journalists and artists. After the riots of February 6, 1934 (street demonstration in Paris organized by multiple far-rightist leagues The police shot and killed 15 demonstrators), the wounded were taken to Weber's for first aid. From 1905, it was owned by hotelier Arthur Millon, then by his son-in-law René Kieffer (1880-1945).
  • No. 22: Duke Pasquier died at this address in 1862.
  • No. 23: built in 1907 on the site of a former Missions évangéliques hall and a short-lived theater known as the Théâtre Royal (1906). In 1889, photographer Eugène Pirou had his photographic studios here.
  • No. 24: Jean-Jacques Lubin (1765-1794), painter and member of the Paris Commune insurrectionnelle, was guillotined on 11 Thermidor Year II (July 29, 1794). He was living at 24, rue de la Révolution (formerly rue Royale) at the time of his execution.
    Mome of the humorist Alphonse Allais, famous during the Belle Époque for his acerbic writing and absurdist humor, and renowned for his puns and holorime verse. He is sometimes considered one of the greatest storytellers in the French language2.
  • No. 25: entrance to the Cité Berryer, which extends to 24 rue Boissy-d'Anglas; site of the former Marché d'Aguesseau, inaugurated in July 1746. From 1927 to 1987, the fifth floor housed the Keystone photographic press agency. It was in 1746, on a plot of undeveloped land, that this city on the border between the Cour de Commerce and the Passage caché came into being. The area was very popular at the time. The structure and facades of the buildings, listed as historic monuments since 1987, were preserved during the renovation that took place in the 1990's. Instead of food shops, luxury boutiques (Dior, Chanel, Alain Martinière...) now line the Cité Berryer. Its pretty houses, flower-filled balconies, cobblestones and old-fashioned lampposts make a charming picture.
  • No. 27 and no. 3 place de la Madeleine, a building that once housed the Brasserie Autrichienne, badly damaged by projectiles fired during the Commune, in the second half of May 1871. The Restaurant Larue, opened on the same site in 1886, played host to Proust in the early 1900s, and from 1924 to the monthly "Dîner Bixio" meeting.
  • No. 33 (building no longer standing). It was a drinking establishment called the Irish and American Bar, frequented by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who drew several pictures of it, including Gabriel Sue and the clown duo Foottit et Chocolat.