Une Histoire de Rue. That’s the perfect starting point to understand Rue Victor Lespagne. This street, like many in Paris, carries a story etched in its very name. But how many of us stop to consider the tales these names whisper?
Rue Victor Lespagne is located in Fontenay-sous-Bois. Paris has a rich military history. Around 15% of Paris’ streets have names that are related to battles, soldiers, and resistance fighters. An interactive map lets you quickly see the extent to which military history is reflected in the names of Paris’ roads. Streets named for important battles are colored green. Streets colored blue are named after generals and other important military figures. Heroes of the French resistance are commemorated in the streets colored red on the map.
Le Figaro discovered that political figures were most likely to be commemorated by having a Paris street named for them. The next most commemorated group are writers, followed by military leaders. Many streets in Paris are named for people. The map shows which historical period is most commemorated in Paris’ roads. After the French revolution street names referring to the monarchy or Catholicism were banned.
Imagine walking these streets centuries ago. Paris was a city transformed by Napoleon III. He rebuilt Paris with wide boulevards. These boulevards are copied throughout the world. The new white stone boulevards sometimes stretched for three miles. Lined with tall, newly planted thirty-year-old trees, they led straight to the center of Paris and opened up hundreds of miserable, cramped areas. Between 1848 and 1870 the streets of Paris became a new phenomenon in the history of architecture. The then radical architectural ideas still set an example for modern city planners.
For centuries Paris had grown with no plan. The population doubled. The streets were dark and evil-smelling. They were polluted with noise and smoke. The center of Paris was a labyrinth. It had hundreds of narrow, airless routes. There was heavy wagon traffic. The streets were a menace for pedestrians. Rain formed deadly pools. Pedestrians often fell into one of the numerous city matter cesspools that formed overnight.
More than a quarter of the city’s streets had no water conduits. Rain caused the streets’ gutters to overflow. Small wonder that Paris had the highest death rate in the country. Only one house in five had iron pipes and running water. Along with countless rats, fleas and the diseases they carried, the cholera epidemic also came from the streets.
The Dictionnaire historique des rues de Paris is a book by Jacques Hillairet. It includes streets in two volumes and illustrations. It was first published in 1960. The dictionary has received the Grand Prix Histoire from the Académie française.
So, as you wander down Rue Victor Lespagne, remember that you are walking through layers of history. Each stone, each building, each street name tells a story of Paris. It’s a story of revolution, transformation, and remembrance. This street is more than just a location. It’s a chapter in the ongoing narrative of a city that has witnessed centuries of change.