Beyond the Walls

Walking into the narrow, cobbled streets of Butte-aux-Cailles feels like walking out of Paris.

 

Ancient wisteria vines tumble over high walls and birds sing in hidden gardens.  A yellow door stands out boldly next to dark green shutters.

 

A red stucco house finishes a row in patterned brickwork.

 

Rough stone walls are protected by terracotta tiles.

 

Two storey cottages fill the gaps between taller buildings.

 

And neighbours paint their doors in complementary shades of orange and green.  Whatever happened to Baron Haussmann’s building code and the subtle shades of sophisticated Paris?

Butte-aux-Cailles now forms the south-west quarter of the 13th arrondissement but up until 1860 it was beyond the city limits.   When Pierre Caille acquired this land, in 1543, there were windmills on the hill and meadows by the river Bièvre.  In the 17th century limestone quarries were tunneled into the hill while laundries, tanneries and butcheries developed by the river.  By the 19th century Butte-aux-Cailles was a busy, productive and insalubrious settlement, serving Paris and dependent on it but not part of it.

From 1820 to 1910 the city authorities gradually channeled the river Bièvre into underground culverts.   One by one, the old industries that depended on a supply of river water closed down and new houses were built on reclaimed land.  Butte-aux-Cailles took its place in the twentieth century city but it has never quite lost the feel of an independent village, beyond the city limits. They do things differently here.

 

Another post linked to Thursday Doors.