On 23 May 1863, a decree declared the alignment of the Rue des Billettes, Rue de l'Homme-Armé, Rue du Chaume, Rue du Grand-Chantier, Rue des Enfants-Rouges, and Rue Molay.[2] These streets were designed to form a single axis crossing Le Marais.[3]
In 1874, the Rue des Archives was created by the merger of:[4]
the Rue de l'Homme-Armé, between the Rue Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie and the Rue des Blancs-Manteaux;
the part of the Rue du Chaume between the Rue des Blancs-Manteaux and the Rue Rambuteau.
Before 1910, the Rue des Archives ended at the Rue Dupetit-Thouars. At that time, the name of Rue Eugène-Spuller was given to the part of the Rue des Archives between the Rue de Bretagne and the Rue Dupetit-Thouars.
In 2019, three sections of the Rue des Archives were officially named (from north to south):[citation needed]
Place Ovida-Delect (4th arrondissement): square located at the crossroads of the Rue des Blancs-Manteaux;
Place Harvey-Milk, (4th arrondissement): crossroads of the Rue des Archives and the Rue de la Verrerie.
Buildings and structures
The plans decided in 1863 were not fully implemented and historical buildings have therefore been preserved:[1]
Nos 22 to 26: eastern part of the Rue des Billettes with mainly the Church of Les Billettes, with the oldest medieval cloister still existing in its original form in Paris. On this part, the constructions of only the odd side were destroyed and replaced by aligned Haussmannian buildings while the opposite bank has retained its old irregular layout.
No 34: Building whose 1st and 2nd floors were occupied from 1965 to 1980 by a specialized school for hearing impaired people: Le Collège et Lycée Privés Morvan (Le Cours Morvan), now at no 68 Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin, in the 9th arrondissement.
No 40: House known as "Jacques Coeur" because it was owned by one of his descendants. Today there is a public nursery school there.
No 45: Former convent of the Fathers of the Merci; there are two wall sundials inside the courtyard, only one visible from the street.
On the part along the former convent, the street has retained its original width.
Northeast corner of the intersection of the Rue des Archives and the Rue des Francs-Bourgeois: remains of a fountain transformed into a viewing window during the reconstruction of the Hôtel de Soubise, then remodelled in 1959 after creating of a doorway.[5] A plate indicates the sea level measured in the basin of the port of Marseille, as well as its difference with the zero level of the Pont de la Tournelle.[6]
Further up the street, there are other interesting buildings, notably at nos 79, 81, 85, and 90.[7]
No 81
No 90
Literature
In the novel Ferragus: Chief of the Devorants, by Honoré de Balzac, the widow Gruget lives at no 12 in the Rue des Enfants-Rouges. This is where Jules Desmarets listens to the conversation between his wife (Clémence Desmarets) and Ferragus XXIII.[8]
^ abc"Rue des Archive". ParisMarais: The Art of Living Guide. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
^Alphand, Adolphe; Deville, Adrien; Hochereau, Émile (1886). "Decree of 23 May 1863". In Imprimerie nouvelle (association ouvrière) (ed.). Ville de Paris: Collection of letters patent, royal ordinances, decrees and prefectural orders concerning public roads (in French). Paris. p. 348.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
