Mire du Nord, Meridian marker and historical monument in 18th arrondissement, France

The Mire du Nord is a three-metre stone obelisk in the 18th arrondissement, built as a square base with a moulded cornice topped by a tapering shaft and a dark cross-shaped finial. It stands behind a black wrought-iron fence with pointed bars in the garden of the Moulin de la Galette residence. Its weathered grey and beige masonry shows dark staining at the base; no inscription is legible on the stone today.

A wooden pole placed by Abbe Jean Picard in 1675 first marked the Paris Meridian at this site. Jacques Cassini replaced it with the stone monument in 1736, which has remained ever since.

The name Mire du Nord refers to its role as the northern sighting mark of the Paris Meridian, paired with a southern counterpart. The 1736 inscription, recorded in the sources, states the obelisk was raised by order of the King to align the meridian on the north side, its axis 2,931 toises and 2 feet from the south face of the Observatory.

The obelisk stands inside the private garden of the Moulin de la Galette residence, in the block bounded by 1-3 rue Girardon, 77-81 rue Lepic and 1-5 avenue Junot; it is not open to visitors. It can be seen from the surrounding streets, where the black wrought-iron fence with pointed bars runs in front of the base. Look toward the garden from rue Girardon.

The 1736 inscription, now illegible on the weathered stone, stated that the obelisk's axis lay 2,931 toises and 2 feet from the south face of the Observatory. La Caille later found the line offset 12 arc-seconds east of the meridian, about 0.33 m.