Paris (France) -- Description and travel; Paris (France) -- History
Boulevard Henri IV is modern (1866), cut across the site of two old
convents. Rue Castex leads out of it where stood once the convent des
Filles de Ste-Marie; its chapel, now a Protestant church, is entered at
No. 5. The Caserne des Célestins was built in 1892 on the site of part
of the large and celebrated convent of the Célestins, an Order founded
in 1244 by the priest who became Pope Celestin V. The Carmelites who at
first were established here, greatly disturbed by inundations from the
Seine who overflowed her banks in those long-past ages, even as she does
to-day, quitted their quarters on this site. The Célestins who came to
Paris in 1352 and took over these abandoned dwellings were protected and
enriched by Charles V, inhabiting the Palais St-Pol close by. The Order
was suppressed in 1778, before the Revolution suppressed all Orders--for
the time; and in 1785 the convent here was taken for the first deaf and
dumb institution organized by abbé de l’Épée. The convent chapel with
its numerous royal tombs, the bodies of some royal personages, the
hearts of others, was razed in 1849. Some vestiges of the convent walls
remained standing till 1904. Where the boulevard meets the Quai des
Célestins, we see now a circular group of worn, ivy-grown stones; an
inscription tells us these old stones once formed part of the Tour de la
Liberté of the demolished Bastille. They were unearthed in making the
Paris Metropolitan Railway a few years ago. The birds make the remnant
of that old tower of liberty their own to-day and passers-by stop
regularly to feed them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account