Rue Royale, Paris
The Rue Royale is a short street in the centre of Paris, France, running between the Place de la Concorde and the Place de la Madeleine. It is in Paris's 8th arrondissement on the Rive Droite. Looking south through the Place de la Concorde, the street offers a view on the Palais Bourbon across the Seine.
Among the well-known addresses on this street is that of Maxim's restaurant, at no. 3.
History
Originally a simple path along the city walls of Louis XIII known as the Chemin des Remparts, the street was transformed starting in 1758 under a uniform architectural plan by Ange-Jacques Gabriel. Letters patent of 1757 and 1768 mandated identical façades for buildings between the Place de la Concorde and the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. The luxury development was largely executed by architect-entrepreneur Louis Le Tellier.During the French Revolution, it was renamed Rue de la Révolution, then Rue de la Concorde. It regained the name Rue Royale by prefectoral decree in 1830.In 1824 a royal ordinance extended the street northward to the Madeleine, widening the northern section to 43 metres and creating the Place de la Madeleine.
The street lost its residential character after the Paris Commune, when buildings at nos. 15, 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25 and 27 were burned. From the late 19th century it became a centre of luxury commerce, with jewellers moving from the Palais-Royal.
On 12 August 1843, the Rue Royale was the scene for a bizarre phenomenon, when tens of thousands of butterflies landed, causing chaos and swarming the shops and restaurants. The pillars of the Madeleine were, reportedly, "covered".
The street was the site of heavy fighting and damage during the Paris Commune in the spring of 1871.
Architecture
The street is renowned for its uniform neoclassical façades. The southern terminus is framed by two identical hôtels designed by Gabriel:- East: Hôtel de la Marine
- West: Hôtel de Crillon