Place des Abbesses, Square in Montmartre, Paris, France
Place des Abbesses is a triangular square in the heart of the Montmartre neighborhood in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It connects to several pedestrian streets, including Rue des Abbesses, and is surrounded by old buildings, cafes, and small shops on all sides.
Before taking its current name, the area was home to a chapel belonging to the Benedictine nuns of the Abbey of Montmartre, which was destroyed during the French Revolution. In the early 20th century, the square held the first town hall of Montmartre before the neighborhood was absorbed into the city of Paris.
The name of the square comes from the Benedictine nuns of the Abbey of Montmartre, who once had a chapel on this site. Today, the most visible landmark is the metro entrance designed by Hector Guimard in the Art Nouveau style, with its curved metal frame and glass canopy standing right on the square.
The square is directly served by the Abbesses metro station on line 12, and the surrounding streets are mostly pedestrian, making it easy to walk around. It works well as a starting point for exploring the neighborhood at a slow pace, with cafes nearby for a break.
The Art Nouveau metro entrance on the square is one of only three original Hector Guimard structures still standing in Paris, and it was relocated here from another site in the 1970s. Just next to the square, the small park Square Jehan-Rictus contains the so-called Wall of Love, a tiled installation showing "I love you" written in over 300 languages.
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