Lost in the labyrinthine streets of Paris’s 5th arrondissement a whisper of history echoes. It speaks of the Impasse des Mûriers a place now vanished. Yet its story remains.
The Impasse des Mûriers once existed. It was a small passage. It connected Rue Saint-Victor to Rue Traversine. This was in the 19th century. Its numbered houses reached only 13.
But what was the Impasse des Mûriers? More than just a street its name itself is a mystery. The origin of “Mûrier” or mulberry is unknown. Some believe it was once called Rue Pavée-Goire a name appearing in Guillot de Paris’s “Dit des rues de Paris”. Others suggest the name evolved from Rue Pavée d’Andouilles. Andouilles are chitterlings a kind of sausage. The street’s name might even have come from Rue des Meuriers or Rue du Meurdrier. The mystery deepens.
The Impasse des Mûriers held a distinguished resident. The Collège des Allemands a college of the old University of Paris was located here. This was from the mid-16th century. It housed students from the German nation which at the time included Anglo-Saxon and Saxon students. Historians claim its founding was much earlier in 1353. The college extended towards Rue Traversine. Records from the Abbey of Sainte-Geneviève and censuses from 1540 and 1603 mention the college and a house connected to it on Rue du Mûrier.
But the Impasse des Mûriers’s story ends abruptly. In 1866 it disappeared. Demolitions made way for the Rue des Écoles. The square de la Mutualité now stands where the Impasse once was. The buildings are gone. The history lives on in fragmented memories and old texts. A ghost of a place. It lingers in our imagination. A silent reminder of Paris’s ever-shifting landscape.
So next time you wander through the Latin Quarter remember the Impasse des Mûriers. Recall its mysterious name. Imagine the students. Remember this lost Parisian alleyway. Its story echoes softly. It awaits discovery by those who listen closely.