Beneath our feet lies history etched into the very pavement of Rue des Petits Champs. This street means “street of small fields”. Yet, ironically, finding any actual fields here is quite the task.
Rue des Petits Champs marks the border between the 1st and 2nd arrondissements. I would like to share some insights into this remarkable place as we stand here.
Originally laid out in 1634 by order of the king, Rue des Petits Champs has undergone significant changes. It has been straightened and leveled over the centuries. It wasn’t until 1881 that it received its current name.
Stretching 450 meters long and 12 meters wide, Rue des Petits Champs begins at Rue de la Banque. The Banque de France sits there. It ends its journey at Avenue de l’Opéra.
For a time, part of Rue des Petits Champs was named Rue Danielle Casanova. This was to honor a French Resistance fighter who died in 1943. This section extended across Opera near Place Vendôme. The renaming occurred in 1944.
Rue des Petits Champs skirts the Palais Royal. It runs parallel to it about 30 feet away.
The Bibliothèque Nationale is also located on the street. It’s like the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The real library is moving to a larger building across the Seine. The building will become an art history library for scholars.
Rue des Petits Champs has had several names throughout its existence. Initially, it was called “Percée à travers champs”. Later, it was part of the New street of the Small Fields. For a time, it was known as “street Bautru”. This was between the streets of the Bank and Vivienne. The section between the avenue of the Opera and the street of Peace was named street Danielle Casanova.
In 2015, the residents of Paris decided to expand the sidewalks. In 2019, the project “Paris aux piétons” started. The section between the Rue de Richelieu and the Rue Vivienne could not be changed, because of construction work at the BNF.
Let’s take a moment to appreciate the layers of history embedded within Rue des Petits Champs. It is a place where the past and present intertwine.