Mail Salvador Allende

“Place Salvador Allende – that’s the name of the street we’re in now,” your tour guide said. The Mail Salvador Allende is a relatively small street located near the Hôtel des Invalides. The street originally bore the name Santiago de Chile, after the South American capital city. The Parisian street was originally called Place de Santiago-du-Chili. It got its name because the embassy of Chile in France was located nearby. In 2003, it was renamed in honor of Salvador Allende Gossens, the Chilean president who was overthrown in a coup in 1973. The streets in Paris don’t all get to be renamed, so that means something important happened. On the street, you’ll see the statue of Vauban, a French military engineer, built in the 1950s. You’ll also see a marble fountain, built in the 19th century. It looks exactly like a fountain on the Place François 1er, not far from the Champs-Elysées. But the fountain at the end of the Mail Salvador Allende is more than just a pretty decoration. It was originally the main attraction of the Place de la Madeleine. So in a way, by renaming it after Salvador Allende, the street became a place of great significance for people of Chilean descent living in Paris. Today, the Mail Salvador Allende serves as a quiet reminder of a revolutionary figure who fought for social justice. The street is a place of history, heritage and memory. It’s a little bit of Chile in the heart of Paris.