Discover the Hidden Cités of Belleville

Despite the gradual disappearance of “undiscovered” Paris under the onslaught of social media, Belleville is still mostly off the tourist track. Perched high in the 19th and 20th arrondissements, it clings to its radical, working-class past even as gentrification colonizes its main street, the Rue de Belleville. It is possibly the only district in Paris where the only election posters not to be defaced are those for the far left party, La France Insoumise. 

Belleville today is a product of the 19th century. Not a Haussmannian creation – Haussmann never penetrated significantly in these outer arrondissements even after their core villages were incorporated into Paris in 1860 – but a product of the rapid industrialization of the capital after the fall of Napoleon. Cheap housing was thrown up to accommodate the thousands of workers arriving in Paris, much of it substandard, lacking basic amenities such as running water or connection to the main sewage system. Buildings stood three or four stories high at most because they were built over age-old quarries used for extracting stone, gypsum and clay. In the 1960s and 70s the very worst of them were demolished to make way for modern apartment buildings. To be fair, some of these are quite attractive résidences with leafy private gardens, but just as many, especially around the Place des Fêtes, are soulless high-rise blocks that typify the worst in postwar town planning.

But not everything was demolished. Walk around Belleville and you will still come across narrow streets – still paved, not covered in tarmac – with modest three-story apartment buildings. In the neighborhood around Place Jourdain in particular (that is, the historic center of the original village), the streets run perpendicular to the Rue de Belleville. Why? Because they were laid out over plots of land formerly used for growing vines in long, straight rows. 

The chaotic, unplanned development of Belleville means you can still find quiet corners where row houses hide shyly behind lilac and wisteria bushes in well kept micro-gardens, or jardinets. These enclaves are sheltered from the brouhaha of the city, where birdsong can be heard and not a great deal else. They offer a glimpse back in time to the country village that was Belleville before it was swallowed up by the noisy, smoky city. Let us take a walk through three of the most interesting of these enclaves, or cités. 

We start at the Métro station Jourdain, opposite the area’s parish church, the Église Saint Jean Baptiste de Belleville. Turn left and walk up the Rue de Belleville until you come to number 151. Our first cité is hidden behind a pair of classic Parisian front doors, so it is a question of lingering until someone enters or leaves. You shouldn’t have to wait more than a few minutes. Even then, you will find yourself in a typical courtyard, planted up prettily with trees and flowers in containers. But cross that, go through the doors (unlocked) ahead and cross a second courtyard. And then, finally, you will see a narrow paved lane winding away in front of you. This is the Cité du Palais Royal. It is so far back from the street that even police and ambulance sirens barely penetrate, but the air is filled with birdsong and if it is fine weather you will almost certainly see a cat prowling around.

Nobody is sure how the cité obtained its name. One theory says that under Louis XIV a warehouse was built here to house the stage sets of the Théâtre du Palais Royal. This seems unlikely: in the 17th century Belleville was a long way from central Paris and the steep hill would have made transporting large bulky items like stage sets impractical. A more plausible theory is that the cité was built on the site of a large residence belonging to the monks at Picpus and called La Maison Rustique, later nicknamed the Palais Royal. It is true that old maps show a long, narrow plot of land bordered by vines, at the top of which stood a Maison Rustique. 

The houses that remain are typical of similar cités elsewhere in Paris: row houses, not apartments, each with its own tiny front garden. The houses are painted white, accentuated by brightly-colored front doors and wooden shutters, window sills and lintels picked out in pink brick. The gardens overflow with pots planted up with colorful geraniums, roses and herbs. Fragrant lilac, wisteria and honeysuckle tumble over the walls creating a shady canopy in high summer. It is a place to linger but you also get the feeling that the residents jealously guard their privacy, so take your photos discreetly and don’t outstay your welcome. 

Back on the Rue de Belleville, turn the other way and start walking down the hill. Beyond the church, the street becomes a bustling thoroughfare still dominated by stores providing the necessities of life: opticians, locksmiths, the inevitable Monoprix, and mobile phone shops. Here and there you come across a more recent arrival such as an artisanal boulangerie, or the trendy cocktail bar Combat. Incidentally, the bar takes its name from the name of the quartier in general, emphasizing its radical past. You might notice, too, that the left hand of the street is in the 20th arrondissement, the right hand side in the 19th. A deliberate move by Haussmann who, conscious of the district’s reputation for unrest, split it across two arrondissements to try and dilute any potential for insurrection. 

Just below the junction with Rue des Pyrénées you get a fantastic view across Paris to the Eiffel Tower, making you realize just how high up you are compared with the rest of the city. As you continue down the hill, the Chinese influence becomes noticeable in the restaurants you pass – Belleville is well-known for being a second Chinatown. Turn right up the Rue Rampal. At the end, where it joins Rue Rebeval, there is a lane between numbers 53 and 55, the Cité Jandelle. 

The Cité Jandelle is not quite as picturesque as the Palais Royal but it is directly accessible from the Rue Rebeval. It was one of numerous narrow alleys that led to the top of the hill which was known for its windmills as well as quarries. A municipal tennis court lends a suburban air to the lane with a steady thump of balls hitting rackets while on the other side, small three-storey apartment buildings rub shoulders with pavillons, or houses, dating from the 1840s and often converted from former garages. The lane takes on an almost country air with pastel-painted houses, providing a glimpse of Belleville before it urbanized. Tucked away at No. 12 is a much grander house built of red brick with a stone mascaron, or sculpted mask, dated 1886 adorning the top of the facade. This belonged to the architect of the cité, Edouard Jandelle-Ramier, who designed one of the first cinemas in Paris. Unfortunately, a few yards further up the lane is blocked by the rear of buildings on Avenue Simon Bolivar so you need to retrace your steps to Rue Rebeval. 

As it descends to the Boulevard de la Villette the street is lined with 1970s résidences – unremarkable apartments, often family-sized, arranged around private gardens that provide welcome shade in summer. These bourgeois homes replaced over 2000 slums, houses so dilapidated and lacking in basic amenities that the inhabitants lived with only a courtyard tap for a water supply, and shared hole-in-the-ground toilets. 

Turning right into the Boulevard de la Villette you are immediately struck by a large orange and white building which is actually social housing. But there is a public right of way, easily missed, between Nos. 50 and 56 leading to a small street beyond. This is the Cité Saint Chaumont, named after the Butte des Chaumonts and its gypsum quarries. The cité is an interesting mix of old and new. A few traditional houses cluster around the bottom but as you continue up the lane these become modern apartments, built in the 1970s by the social housing association Paris Habitat on a site that was once a depot for the Folies Bergère.

For many years there was a legal standoff between the Ville de Paris and the private owners of the older houses over who was responsible for maintaining the road. Property owners showed little interest in maintaining it and over the years potholes, blocked drains and underground collapses caused floods and damage through lack of legal responsibility. Eventually the Ville de Paris managed to reclassify the road as “a private right of way open to all,” and repair work was carried out in 2015-16. Vehicle access is possible at each end but the lane is mostly pedestrianized which adds to its tranquility and charm. The architecture is a thoughtful mix of the rectilinear and curves and some of the apartments have their own private entrance, emphasizing the impression of individual houses. It is evident that the residents appreciate the island of calm the cité’s hidden location provides, and have responded with an abundance of potted trees and flowers.  

The lane is a through passage and if you follow it to the end it comes out on Avenue Simon Bolivar. Across the road is a steep staircase leading to the much larger and planned cité of the Butte Bergeyre but that can wait for another exploration. From Avenue Simon Bolivar  you can catch the No. 26 bus towards Gare Saint Lazare or Place de la Nation, with Métro connections along the route.