Place Eugène Sue

Hidden within the vibrant tapestry of Paris, Place Eugène Sue whispers tales of a bygone era. This square, nestled at the intersection of rue Eugène Sue and rue Simart in the 18th arrondissement, holds a secret. It once housed a massive complex of buildings, a Parisian citadel built for 10,000 workers during Haussmann’s transformation of Paris in the latter half of the 19th century. Place Eugène Sue’s citadel, while not as infamous as Hong Kong’s Kowloon Walled City, shared a similar density and intriguing layout. Imagine this: a labyrinthine network of courtyards and alleyways, teeming with life. This “citadel,” etched into the city’s fabric by two intersecting streets and punctuated by countless narrow courtyards, formed a unique, almost singular, built mass. The sheer scale of this housing project mirrored the area of the Kowloon Walled City. Although the Parisian citadel was one of the densest blocks in Paris, the Walled City, before its demolition in 1993, boasted a density five times greater. Just as the Kowloon Walled City was shrouded in myths of lawlessness and intrigue, one could reimagine the history of Place Eugène Sue. Picture this: during the tumultuous 1871 Paris Commune uprising, the inhabitants of this Parisian block, 10,000 strong, might have formed an autonomous entity. They could have harnessed the defensive nature of the architecture and the maze-like organization of the space to resist suppression. Sadly, the reality of Place Eugène Sue is less dramatic. No such uprising occurred. The citadel, now subject to the pressures of Parisian real estate, has seen its density decrease. The once interconnected blocks have been divided into individual lots, erasing the sense of community that might have existed.