Paris - Boulevards

The word boulevard, which is cognate with the English "bulwark", is applied to a street or avenue laid out on the line of old fortifications which have been demolished. It can be seen from a plan of the city how Paris has grown outwards from its original nucleus on the Ile de la Cité in a series of ever wider rings.

The first ring, on the line of the 14th century town walls, is formed by the Boulevards Beaumarchais and du Temple, the "Grand Boulevards" Saint- Martin, Saint-Denis, Bonne-Nouvelle, Poissonnière, Montmartre, des Italiens. des Capucines, de la Madeleine and - linked by Rue Royale, Place de la Concorde and the Pont de la Concorde - the Boulevard Saint- Germain on the left bank of the Seine. The principal streets in the second ring are the Boulevards Rochechouart and de Clichy to the north, de Courcelles to the west, de Grenelle and du Montparnasse to the south and Picpus and de Charonne to the east.

The third ring is the Boulevard Périphérique Intérieur, all the streets in which are named after generals and marshals, and the fourth is the Boulevard Périphérique Extérieur, the ring motorway which marks the present boundary of the city.

The town planning program carried through by Baron Haussmann between 1853 and 1870 completely transformed the city, with the construction of the boulevards, railroad stations, the first market halls and department stores, five new bridges and extensive new parks. Haussmann's plan, which involved the demolition of almost 30,000 houses and the rehousing of 300,000 people, had several objects in view. In addition to the embellishment of the city by the construction of imposing new buildings he had in mind mainly economic necessities. The new traffic arteries made possible the rapid transport and faster circulation of goods and people between different parts of the city, and between railroad stations, market halls and department stores in particular. And finally the broad boulevards had advantages from the point of view of military strategy, making for faster movement and better control if it became necessary to deploy troops.