The Buttes Chaumont area is located the 19th arrondissements of Paris. The Buttes Chaumont area is a cosmopolitan district, mixing the Old French bohemianism and also the Parisian cosmopolitanism. The Buttes Chaumont area of Paris is in the north of the city, and is a peaceful, green and family-friendly refuge. Parc des Buttes-Chaumont is now one of the most pleasant spots in the city, with a large expanse of grass, a lake, suspension bridge, and lot of paths, benches and playgrounds.
Butte-Chaumont area, is situated on the right bank of the River Seine. It is crossed by two canals, the Canal Saint-Denis and the Canal de l’Ourcq, which meet near the Parc de la Villette. The Buttes Chaumont area of Paris is one of the eight arrondissements formed when the peripheral communes were annexed to the city in 1860 (Belleville, la Villette, as well as portions of the communes of Aubervilliers and Pantin).
Besides its friendly and diverse inhabitants, it is a real melting pot of culture, greenery and going out. This district includes many parks including the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, cultural and leisure centers such as the Cité de la Musique, Le Zénith, the Cité des sciences et de l’industrie or La Géode and the Cabaret Sauvage.
The Buttes-Chaumont Park, in the north-east of Paris, is one of the biggest and original green spaces in Paris, measuring 25 hectares. Its construction on quarries explains its impressive steepness and change in levels and heights. It is a very leisurely area which can provide fun for all ages, especially in the warmer months.
Visitors can appreciate stunning views of the city from this hilly setting, especially in the Montmartre district. The layout gives it a particular charm: caves and waterfalls, a suspended bridge, and a high viewpoint. It is brightened up with exotic, indigenous trees and numerous birds (seagulls, moorhens, and mallard ducks) share the area and enjoy the artificial lake. Entertainment for children also takes place in the park and there are break areas.
Among which, the Parc de la Villette, which is home to the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, a museum and exhibition centre, the Conservatoire de Paris, one of the most renowned music schools in Europe, the Cabaret Sauvage, the Zénith de Paris and the Philharmonie de Paris,both part of the Cité de la Musique.
Two large, wide canals (Canal Saint-Denis and Canal de l’Ourcq) traverse the district and intersect in its middle, where the large Parc de La Villette can be found, housing the science-themed Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, while further south one can find another park, the romantic Parc des Buttes Chaumont. And you can of course stride along the canals.
America district
The Quartier d’Amérique is the 75th administrative district of the capital. It is located south-east of the 19th arrondissement and bordered to the north by Avenue Jean Jaurès, the longest in this borough. To the south, Rue de Belleville separates the neighbourhood from those of Belleville and Saint-Fargeau. To the east, it is bounded by Boulevard Sérurier, Boulevard d’Algérie and Boulevard Périphérique. Finally, to the west, Rue de Crimée leads to the Buttes-Chaumont, located in the Combat district.
In this district were the old quarries of America, from which gypsum and millstones were extracted for the construction of Parisian buildings (in the central districts). Like many other neighbourhoods, Amérique was annexed by Paris in 1860. This area takes its name from the ancient quarries of America where gypsum (used for plaster production) and millstones were extracted until 1873. These materials were used to build high-rise buildings. The legend goes that this plaster was exported to the United States and used for the construction of the White House, which was denied by the Town hall of Paris.
The largest of the surrounding quarries, which was mined in the open, was transformed into a vast public garden under Napoleon III. A large part of this district was the subject of development in the 1960s and 1970s, and towers were built in place of factories, workshops, houses and guinguettes, in particular around the Place des Fêtes. However, there are still alleys called ” villas “, where picturesque houses are lined up (especially around the rue de Mouzaïa).
When strolling through this area, you can see many villas each as colourful as the other. Each street has a unique landscape that will introduce you to a new vision of the capital. In summer or spring, this bucolic district opens its doors for pleasant walks.
Saint-François-d’Assise Church: This church was built between 1914 and 1926 to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the Third Order of St. François. The building displays Byzantine and Romanesque influences.
Regard de la Lanterne: This historical monument was on Belleville’s water system. Built between 1583 and 1613, it is now located in the garden of the Regard-de-la-Lanterne to which it gave its name.
Place des Fêtes: The name of this pedestrian plaza serves as a reminder of the many celebrations that took place there when it was attached to the former municipality of Belleville. The village bought the place from the Hospices administration in 1836 to organise its ceremonies.
Jardin du Regard-de-la-Lanterne: Built in 1975, this green space was designed to highlight the hydraulic structure from which it takes its name. Next to the Place des Fêtes, this 994 m2 garden has three beautiful cherry trees.
Parc de la Butte-du-Chapeau-Rouge: Created in 1938, this space is in line with other parks built during this decade, such as Square Séverine (20th arrondissement) or Parc Kellermann (13th). This garden occupies a large area of the ancient gypsum quarries. It is a really resting place, which allows you to unwind among paper mulberry trees, Siberian elms or Virginia tulip trees.
Combat District
The Combat district is the 76th administrative district of Paris located in the Buttes Chaumont area. Located in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, the Combat district is the 76th administrative district of the city. To the north and northwest, it is bounded by rue de Meaux, while to the south, rue de Belleville forms the boundary between this district and that of Belleville. To the east, Rue de Crimee separates it from the Quartier d’Amérique.
Annexed by Paris in the 1860s, the Combat district has a dark past. Place du Combat, now known as Place du Colonel-Fabien, has indeed been the theatre of many massacres. It mainly includes the infamous Gibbet of Montfaucon, where the corpses of the sentenced to death piled up. This square was also the place where animals unsuitable for consumption used to be slaughtered and skinned.
Another historical fact which made the name of this neighborhood consists in the bloody animal fights organised at the time in wooden arenas. From 1778 to 1833, dogs, bulls, bears, wild boars and many other animals were forced to fight to death.
The name change of Place du Combat is also linked to a sad event that occurred in 1945: that year, a German bomb killed the resistance fighter Colonel Fabien and his troop, who were trying to defuse it.
Church of Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption des Buttes-Chaumont: located near Les Buttes-Chaumont, this parish church has about 600 places. Saint-Georges de la Villette Church: built in memory of the Archbishop of Paris, Georges Darboy, who was shot during the Paris Commune, the construction of this church began in 1873.
The headquarters of the French Communist Party: Starting in 1965, the construction of this building was completed in 1971. The Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, the builder of this historical monument, wanted to create a contemporary architecture, simple and without luxurious finishes. The headquarters is located on Place du Colonel-Fabien, whose name is a tribute to this communist resistance fighter.
Parc des Buttes-Chaumont: in 1860, year of the annexation of the district, Napoleon III had the idea to transform this former gypsum quarry into a park. It was only seven years later that this park was inaugurated. Today it is one of the largest in the capital, with 25 hectares of green space. It is also one of the most original: within the park itself there is an island with a surface area of approximately 6,700 m² called Île du Belvédère.
Villette district
The Villette district is the 73rd administrative district of Paris, located in the Buttes Chaumont area, in the northeast of the capital. Bringing together leisure, nature and culture, the Villette district stands out for its dynamism. It is the neighborhood for musicians with its many concert halls: The Philharmonie and the Cité de la Musique, the Zénith, the Cabaret Sauvage, the Trabendo… The Grande Halle and the Parc de la Villette also host many festivals. In this festive district, there are many nice bistros and restaurants, especially around the Bassin de La Villette and the Canal de l’Ourcq. The many activities offered to children in this district will also delight families.
Located in the north of the 19th arrondissement, the Villette district comes from the former commune of La Villette, one of the four communes fully attached to Paris (and therefore disappearing) in 1860. The Villette district has been the subject of major urban redevelopment since the early 1980s and more particularly since the 2000s.
The district has therefore seen many projects come to fruition in recent years, attracting over time a wealthier segment of the population. The 55 hectares of the Parc de la Villette greatly contribute to the gentrification of the district: one of the largest green spaces in the capital is in perpetual motion. From concerts in the performance hall of the Zénith de Paris, to the fun activities offered by the Cité des Sciences, via the Géode and its hemispherical screen, the park has something to seduce.
This is how this corner of the northeast of the capital, formerly neglected by Parisians who preferred the banks of the Seine or the left bank for strolling, has become in a few years one of the most attractive cultural centers of the capital.. A wind of modernity is blowing over the Bassin de la Villette, attracting Parisians in search of leisure, culture and nature.
The Villette district, located in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, has been undergoing urban restructuring since the early 1980s. Many development projects have materialized over time: the Parc de la Villette which, with its 55 hectares, has become one of the largest green spaces in the capital, the performance hall of the Zénith de Paris, the city of Music, the Geode and its hemispherical screen, the city of Science and Industry… This area of north-eastern Paris has become in just a few years a dynamic hub that brings together contemporary architecture, leisure, culture and nature.
Created in 1979 and constantly in motion ever since, the Parc de la Villette and all the activities it offers seem to have breathed a real boost of dynamism into the entire surrounding district. Take advantage of the cultural energy that reigns around the largest park in Paris and the Bassin de la Villette.
The former general stores, now converted into a university residence belonging to the Cité Universitaire, attract students from all over the world. Parisian and international youth are taking over the district to breathe new life into it. During the summer period, the MK2 cinema complex located on the Quai de Loire and Quai de Seine attracts the crowd, who like to have a drink or bask in the sun in one of the bars on the Place de la Bataille de Stalingrad.
The Bassin de la Villette has thus become a real focal point, attracting both former residents and inhabitants of the district, and young Parisians from all over the capital. Everyone comes here to enjoy the cinemas, the bars-restaurants, the bookstore and the benches that line the two banks of the basin. A small river shuttle has been set up on the waters of the basin to pass from one bank to the other without having to go all the way around. Also the Paris Canal which offers a cruise to the Musée d’Orsay. The barges moored along the quay offer very good craft beers and fresh fruit juices to sip in the sun on colorful deckchairs. Here, the atmosphere smells like summer, and this is also what makes this district so successful.
In 2008, the district also acquired the Centquatre, which quickly became one of the new high places of Parisian culture. Impossible to miss this gigantic brick and stone structure, located not far from the basin and very close to the Riquet metro station, at 104 rue d’Aubervilliers. This space, entirely devoted to art and equipped with impressive cultural equipment, regularly presents exhibitions, concerts and shows of all kinds. It also houses artists’ studios, often open to the public, a few shops and a restaurant.
104 / Hundredfour – This high place of current artistic creation, baptized the CENTQUATRE, was the former municipal funeral directors. With a surface area of 39,000 m² organized into several spaces, production workshops, broadcast rooms and hanging garden, its main objective is to be a platform that generates exchanges between visitors and many multidisciplinary artists. Whether they are in residence or not, they have the privilege of making their artistic universe and their work known to the general public. Over the course of the year, visitors discover some thirty projects generated by artists from here and elsewhere, as well as festivals that present the completed creations of artists in residence. The popular ball, organized one Saturday a month, brings together all generations around great tunes brought up to date.
City of Music – A veritable place dedicated to music, the Cité de la Musique, located south of Parc de la Villette, near the Paris Conservatory, is the work of architect Christian de Portzamparc. It offers as many people as possible access to musical culture through its concerts, its museum, its educational and editorial activities for adults and young people.
City of Science and Industry / Universcience – This futuristic giant surrounded by water shelters, behind its walls of glass and steel, a thousand activities popularizing science and technology in a fun way. Conferences, aquarium, cinema in relief, cities of children, trades, health, exhibitions, media library, planetarium, workshops…
The Geode – The shimmering Geode, a stainless steel ball 36 meters in diameter, contains a 1,000 m² hemispherical cinema screen providing thrills. La Géode closes its doors on November 30, 2018 for 2 years of renovation work.
Argonaut submarine – The Argonaute, a former hunting submarine, landed its 400 tons next to the Geode. It is well worth a visit!
Pont-de-Flandre district
The Pont-de-Flandre district is the 74th administrative district of Paris. It is bounded by the Avenue Jean Jaurès to the south and the town of Pantin to the east. The gates of Aubervilliers and La Villette mark its borders to the north and the streets of Ourcq and Aubervilliers to the west.
The Pont-de-Flandre became a district of Paris after the annexation of the commune of la Villette by the capital according to the law of 16 June 1859. Here, between the Canal de l’Ourcq, the Route d’Allemagne (now known as Avenue Jean-Jaurès) and the fortified walls of Thiers, a cattle market and the capital’s slaughterhouses were held. Once the area was bought by Paris, buildings were constructed by the architect Louis-Adolphe Janvier, who based his design on the preliminary projects of his colleague Victor Baltard.
Grande Halle de la Villette: one of the last remnants of the former slaughterhouses, this building became a historical monument in 1979. Today, it is a cultural park where urban arts are exhibited.
Théâtre Paris – Villette: created in 1972, when the slaughterhouses were still in operation, this theatre was called Théâtre Présent. Its name was changed to the one we know today in 1986.
Fontaine du Château d’eau: also known as Fontaine aux lions de Nubie (the Nubian Lions Fountain) or Fontaine de Bondy (Bondy Fountain), it was built in 1811 and certified as a historical monument in 1979.
Zénith Paris – La Villette: this large concert hall, inaugurated in 1984, has a maximum capacity of 6,804 seats. Many artists come to perform in this venue.
Main Attractions
The two main avenues in the Buttes Chaumont area are Avenue de Flandre and Avenue Jean-Jaurès linked by Place de la Bataille-de-Stalingrad. The first overlooks the Porte de la Villette, the second the Porte de Pantin. Rue de Crimée, which stretches from rue d’Aubervilliers to place des Fêtes, is the longest street in the Buttes Chaumont area (2,540 m). The boulevard de la Villette, which materializes its southern limit, separates it from the 10th.
The Robert-Debré Hospital, the Grande halle de la Villette and the Cité des sciences et de l’industrie are the three largest buildings in the arrondissement. The other most important buildings are the Cité de la Musique, the National Conservatory of Music and Dance of Paris, the Center des Archives de Paris, the Lycée Henri-Bergson, the Municipal Conservatory and a cultural establishment, the Centquatre-Paris.
There are also many cultural places, such as Maison du film, the FRAC d’Ile-de-France, Le Plateau. Many barges around the Canal de l’Ourcq have a cultural vocation (opera, cinema, theatre). The Cité de la Musique, the National Conservatory and the Parisian Zénith are located on the edge of the Parc de la Villette, near the Grande Halle. The Philharmonie de Paris, a large symphony concert hall with 2,400 seats, was added to the Cité de la Musique in 2015.
Town hall of the 19th arrondissements of Paris
The town hall of the 19th arrondissements of Paris is the building that houses the municipal services of the Buttes Chaumont area of Paris, France. The town hall of the 19th arrondissements is located on Place Armand-Carrel. The building was designed by architect Gabriel Davioud and constructed between 1876 and 1878.
The facade of the central pavilion is decorated with the sculptures of The Water Supply by Aristide Croisy and The Cattle Supply, by Georges Clère. The painter Diogène Maillart is the author of the ceiling of the grand staircase, La Ville de Paris instructing its children, and of the ceiling of the landing, La Parure de la femme. Henri Gervex is the author of the painting Mathurin Moreau (sculptor and mayor of the 19th arrondissements) marrying his son, hung in the wedding hall.
Church of Saint-Jacques-Saint-Christophe de la Villette
The church of Saint-Jacques-Saint-Christophe de la Villette, located 6 place de Bitche, is a Catholic parish church built between 1841 and 1844. The church is neoclassical in style, modeled on early Christian basilicas.
The facade is dominated by a porch, of Italian inspiration, with 2 levels. The first level has pilasters of the Corinthian order and, on either side of the entrance, two niches shelter the statue of the two patron saints of the church, due to Antoine Laurent Dantan. The second level is pierced, in its center, with three semicircular bays and decorated with pilasters of the composite order. The whole is crowned with a triangular pediment. The nave is separated from the aisles by a row of Doric columns, fluted in their upper part, which support a row of high windows. The central nave is covered with a painted wooden coffered ceiling.
Church of St. John the Baptist in Belleville
The Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Belleville is one of the first churches of neo- Gothic architecture built in Paris. Located at 139 rue de Belleville, in the Buttes Chaumont area of Paris, it was built between 1854 and 1859. The church of Saint Jean-Baptiste de Belleville is the most accomplished work of Jean-Baptiste Antoine Lassus (1807-1857) one of the first architects of the neo-Gothic style in the middle of the 19th century in France.
This church is composed of a nave of five bays with two side aisles and eight side chapels, a transept, a choir with a bay in the extension of the nave, an ambulatory giving access to seven chapels, two sacristies and two bell towers surmounted of arrows. The church measures 68 m in overall length by 25 m in width, the elevation of the facade to the ridge is 26 m, the height of each spire is 57 m, the vault heights are for the large nave of 19 m and 8 m for the side aisles.
The facade is dedicated to John the Baptist, the patron saint of the church and the parish. The iconography, the varied typology of the windows and the techniques used show the archaeological concern specific to neo-Gothic architects. The stained glass windows illustrate stories from the Old Testament.
The sculpted decoration is the work of Aimé-Napoléon Perrey; the windows were made by Auguste de Martel, from cartoons by Louis Steinheil; the hinges of the portal and all the side doors were forged by the ironworker Pierre Boulanger.
The Cent-Quatre
The Cent-Quatre is open to the public all year round, 7 days a week. In addition to the programming of shows, performances, concerts, exhibitions. Inaugurated in October 2008, the Centquatre is a place of creation and artistic production unique in the world, open to all the arts: visual arts, music, dance, theatre, video, fashion, design, cinema, literature… The Centquatre is a place of life, of meeting, where art rubs shoulders with everyday life.
The former Funeral Directors of Paris have had a makeover to welcome the new place dedicated to contemporary, innovative and unique creation. On 39,000 m2 the former Municipal Funeral Service now houses studio-residences, exhibition halls, but also two performance halls, shops, a restaurant, a bookstore, a space dedicated to the artistic awakening of toddlers… All around an impressive interior street covered with a monumental glass roof.
City of Science and Industry Museum
The City of Science and Industry is an establishment specializing in the dissemination of scientific and technical culture. Created on the initiative of President Giscard d’Estaing, its mission is to disseminate scientific and technical knowledge to a wide audience, in particular children and adolescents, as well as to arouse the interest of citizens in social issues. related to science, research and industry. It is at the heart of a system aimed at promoting scientific and technical culture: the Centers for Scientific, Technical and Industrial Culture (CCSTI).
Along with the Cité de la Musique and the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris, it is part of the Parc de la Villette. The slaughterhouse rehabilitation project,September 15, 1980to Adrian Fainsilber. Complementing the Palais de la Découverte located in the Grand Palais, the City of Science and Industry opens its doors onMarch 13, 1986, inaugurated by François Mitterrand on the occasion of the encounter between the astronomical probe Giotto and Halley’s comet. In 2010, the Cité des Sciences and the Palais de la Découverte were grouped together in a common establishment, named Universcience, with EPIC status.
Mouzaïa district
The Mouzaïa district, located between the Mouzaïa streets, of General Brunet, Miguel-Hidalgo is made up of small houses full of charm, built of brick. In 1901, a developer opened small passages between the existing streets and began to subdivide the land. But the Municipality, prohibits to build houses of more than one floor there, because of the fragility of the basement undermined by the presence of gypsum quarries.
Today, these small houses are lined with flower gardens. La Mouzaïa is located on a former gypsum quarry. The name of Mouzaïa is borrowed from an Algerian locality in which a battle took place in 1839 during French colonization. At 46 rue du Général-Brunet, you will find the portal of the Hameau du Danube.
Natural areas
The Buttes Chaumont area is home to two of the largest parks in Paris, the Parc de la Villette (the first) and the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont (the third, the second being the Jardin des Tuileries).
The district has the following gardens: Compans garden, Flanders-Tangier-Morocco garden, Butte-Bergeyre garden (formerly Chaufourniers garden), Notre-Dame-de-Fatima garden, Rébeval garden, Regard-de- la-Lanterne, Riquet garden, garden of buildings in the rue de la Marseillaise, Serge-Gainsbourg garden.
Parc des Buttes Chaumont
The Buttes-Chaumont park with 25 hectares on the clock, it is one of the largest green spaces in the capital. Its lake, its waterfalls and its caves, its incredible belvedere, its viewpoints, its suspension bridge and its hilly aspect make it one of the most original and pleasant parks in the capital.
This 24.7 hectare park receives more than 3 million visitors each year. From 2003 to 2006, it was the subject of work aimed at making the floral and vegetal decoration as rich as at its inauguration. However, most of the Park remains accessible.
The park takes its name from the bare hill (chauve-mont) that once occupied this site. It became a place where gypsum was mined, and where the limestone was quarried to be used in buildings in Paris. Non-fertile land, the site was little used before, except that a gibbet was installed there from the 13th century. This place was then a gypsum quarry from the Revolution to 1860.
During the 19th-century renovation of Paris under Napoleon III chauve-mont was chosen as a place for a large park, as part of the emperor’s fascination with endowing Paris with green spaces. The Parc des Buttes Chaumont was created in 1867 and inaugurated on the occasion of the Universal Exhibition. In the planning policy of Paris wanted by Napoleon III, the gardens held an important place. It was decided to buy the land and transform this bit of hill into a garden.
The artificial lake created at that time wraps around a hilly central island. The lake attracts waterfowl and other birds and is stocked with fish. There are a couple of bridges, including the delightful suspension bridge spanning 200 feet, 72 feet above the lake. Not only is the bridge fun to walk on and a delight to see.
The 19th-century planners cleaned up the site and dumped in tons of soil to fill the pits left by the limestone mining operation. Then dynamite was used to “sculpt” the site into the craggy shapes you see today, including the 50-metre-high central hill with cliffs, an interior grotto, pinnacles, and arches. Inside the craggy hill is a 65-foot-high cavern created when the park was a quarry. The park builders turned this into a fantasy grotto, complete with artificial stalactites, light & shadows, and a 60-foot-high waterfall.
Up on top, overlooking the rest of the park is a small, round belvedere, based on the Roman Temple of Vesta in Italy. From the temple you can see a lovely view of Montmartre and the white cupolas of the Sacre-Coeur.
Across from the main entrance to Parc des Buttes-Chaumont (on the north side, at Place Armand-Carrel) is the Mairie of the 19th Arrondissement, the town hall. This pleasing building was designed by Gabriel Davioud in 1876. On either side of the Parc des Buttes Chaumont are two charming places, unique in Paris. On one side the Butte Bergeyre and on the other, the Mouzaïa district. On the program: small houses, flowers, greenery, cobblestones and even a vineyard…
Villette Park
Parc de la Villette is one of the largest parks in the French capital, established on the site of large slaughterhouses, built in 1867 on the decision of Napoleon III. La Villette Cultural Park is full of cultural places and activities. The Philharmonie de Paris, the City of Science and Industry, the City of Music, the Zénith de Paris, the Grande Halle de la Villette, the Open Air Cinema and more.
It extends over 55 hectares, including 33 of green spaces, which makes it the largest green space in the intramural capital in front of the Tuileries Garden (25.5 ha), the Buttes-Chaumont park (25 ha), and the Luxembourg garden (23 ha). From the Porte de la Villette in the north, to the Porte de Pantin in the south; the Canal de l’Ourcq crosses it in the middle. Two footbridges span the canal and link north and south. Since 2008, a mobile floating bridge has been installed in summer, halfway between these two footbridges, and facilitates the passage of walkers, cyclists and people with reduced mobility.
The architectural realization of the park was entrusted in 1983 to Bernard Tschumi, a French architect of Swiss origin, following the international competition for the architectural design of the park launched in 1982. The essential particularity of the park is not to break the perspective from north to South. A cinematic walk reveals themed gardens which are all play areas, theaters where nature is staged. A rectilinear “gallery” covered with a wave-shaped roof connects north and south. The park is strongly punctuated by a systematic grid of red buildings called “Folies”.
A varied cultural program offers many entertainment opportunities throughout the year: concerts (jazz, world music, electronic, classical, contemporary, pop and rock), contemporary circus, exhibitions, theatre, dance, open-air cinema … A river shuttle4 connects, via the Ourcq canal, the Bassin de la Villette place de Stalingrad to Aulnay/Bois stopping at the park. In addition, cruises lasting one to several hours are offered with La Villette as the point of departure or arrival. The park communicates with that of Buttes-Chaumont by the alley Darius Milhaud.
The Parc de la Villette also offers numerous relaxation activities as well as a rich cultural programme. The Grande Halle, the Philharmonie, the City of Music, the City of Sciences and the Geode welcome a very large public. It is one of the largest urban parks in Paris, very popular in winter and summer.
The park, where families, joggers, cyclists and Pokémon hunters rub shoulders, is crossed by the Canal de l’Ourcq on which you can sail aboard cruise ships or small electric boats that you can rent and drive without a license. On board these electric boats that are rented at the Bassin de la Villette, you can sail to Pantin, to the Parc de la Bergère in Bobigny or beyond.
Waterways
The Buttes Chaumont area is crossed by the Canal Saint-Denis and the Canal de l’Ourcq, which intersect at the Parc de la Villette. At rue de Crimée, under the only lift bridge in Paris, the Canal de l’Ourcq flows into the Bassin de la Villette, which communicates with the Canal Saint-Martin (10th arrondissement). There is also the dock at the bottom of Rouvray, the smallest canal in Paris (250 m), located on the edge of the Parc de la Villette and blocked by rue Adolphe-Mille.
Bassin de la Villette
The Bassin de la Villette is the largest artificial body of water in Paris. It was put in water on December 2, 1808. Rectangular, 800 meters long and 70 wide, it opens via the rue de Crimée bridge, the last drawbridge in Paris, near the general store, and ends with the Place de Stalingrad where the Villette rotunda. This basin also hosts counters for river cruises, as well as an MK2 cinema complex whose originality, in addition to its location in old converted cast iron gantries, is ensured by a connection by electric boat on either side of the basin.. The basin is bordered to the north by the Quai de la Seine and to the south by the Quai de la Loire, which the Moselle footbridge connects in the middle.
The Bassin de la Villette has thus become a real focal point, attracting both former residents and inhabitants of the district, and young Parisians from all over the capital. Everyone comes here to enjoy the cinemas, the bars-restaurants, the bookstore and the benches that line the two banks of the basin. A small river shuttle has been set up on the waters of the basin to pass from one bank to the other without having to go all the way around. Also the Paris Canal which offers a cruise to the Musée d’Orsay. The barges moored along the quay offer very good craft beers and fresh fruit juices to sip in the sun on colorful deckchairs. Here, the atmosphere smells like summer, and this is also what makes this district so successful.
The Bassin de la Villette offers many activities: boat cruises to the Canal Saint-Martin or the Canal de l’Ourcq, cinema, idleness on the quays of the Bassin de La Villette, nautical activities, etc. This place is also a site of expression for many street artists and it has been possible to swim outdoors in the Bassin de la Villette since 2017.