Place Raoul-Follereau, Pedestrian square in the Quartier de l'Hôpital-Saint-Louis, Paris, France
Place Raoul-Follereau is a pedestrian square in the Quartier de l'Hôpital-Saint-Louis, in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, sitting just above the Quai de Valmy along the Canal Saint-Martin. The surface is flat and open, framed by typical Parisian brick and stone buildings, with a few steps leading down toward the canal.
The square was created in the early 1980s as part of an urban development project in the district, initially known internally as "voie J/10". It was briefly named after René Cassin before receiving its current name in 1984 in honor of Raoul Follereau.
The square is named after Raoul Follereau, a French writer and activist who devoted his life to fighting leprosy and social exclusion. A statue of him stands on the square, giving the space a quiet, reflective tone that sets it apart from a typical city plaza.
The square sits a short walk from the Château-Landon metro station on line 7, making it easy to reach on foot from the station. Because the entire space is car-free, it is comfortable to walk through at any pace, and it connects naturally to the canal path along the Quai de Valmy.
Before taking its current name, the square briefly honored René Cassin, the French jurist who helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The final renaming in 1984 linked it instead to a figure known for humanitarian work on the ground rather than in the legal sphere.
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