During the French Revolution, it was known as the Rue de Franciade. The street was one of the centres of the June Rebellion of 1832, immortalised in Victor Hugo’s novel Les Misérables, and which is referred to in the book as the “Epic of the Rue Saint-Denis“.
From ancient road to triumphal arch. Rue Saint‑Denis is among Paris’s oldest streets, laid out in the Roman era and used for royal entries toward the Abbey of Saint‑Denis. In the 17th century, the neighbourhood gained its landmark: Porte Saint‑Denis (1672), a triumphal arch at the city’s threshold.
“The belly of Paris,” then a new heart. Nearby, Les Halles fed the city for centuries. After the late‑1960s move to Rungis, Montorgueil kept the food spirit while the 2nd blends shops, covered passages, old workshops… and a distinctly Parisian nightlife.
