Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie street, 330 meters long, is located in the 4th arrondissement, in the Saint-Gervais and Saint-Merri districts. It starts at 31, rue Vieille-du-Temple and ends at 24, rue du Temple. It is a "trendy" street in the Marais district.
Origin of the Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie street
It took this name because the canons of the Holy Cross came to form an establishment in the 13th century, the Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie convent, in this street. In reality, the toponym "Bretonnerie" or "champ aux Bretons" predates the arrival of the monks. In 1268, there was a house in the street known as the house of Galeran le Breton. But according to other sources, the name "Bretonnerie" came from a fight of five Englishmen, or Bretons. On the night of Good Friday to Saturday 1228, five Englishmen entered the orchard of this Galetan, challenged him and insulted him. He had only a chaplain and a servant with him, who helped him so well that three of these Englishmen were killed and the other two fled. The chaplain died the next day from his wounds. Later, when Brehan left Paris, but before leaving he bought this house and the orchard and gave them to his brave and faithful servant named Galleran.
The rest of the story of the Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie street
Accused of embezzlement, the priory of Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie was closed in 1778 and demolished during the French Revolution, leaving the square of the same name.
Today, it is one of the typical streets of the gay district. A place of entertainment par excellence, it is home to cafés and the "Point virgule" theater.
Remarkable buildings and places of memory
Even numbers
- At no. 6: from 1980 to 2020, Les Mots à la bouche bookstore. This gay bookshop moved to 37 rue Saint Ambroise (11th district of Paris).
- At no. 16 was inhabited by the astronomer Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande (1732-1807).
- At no. 20 of the rue Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie was the private mansion of the farmer general Romans. From 1840 to 1860, the town hall of the former 7th arrondissement of Paris was located there, and after the new organization of Paris into 20 arrondissements, the first town hall of the 4th arrondissement until 1868. The building was destroyed in 1929.
- At no. 44: former Feydeau hotel, transmitted by marriage from the Hennequin family to the Feydeau de Brou.
Odd numbers
- At no. 5: Raoul de la Faye hotel from the beginning of the 16th century, behind the building on the street built in 1852.
- At no. 7 is the Point-Virgule theater since 1975. A number of famous comedians took their first steps on this small stage, including Jean-Marie Bigard, Pierre Palmade, Nicole Ferroni or Florence Foresti.
- At no. 37, the house where Antoine Brutus Menier, a druggist at the time, founded the Menier chocolate brand, which his son Émile-Justin developed in 1853.
- At no. 47, a turret from 1610.
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