Place Fréhel, Pedestrian square in Belleville, Paris
Place Fréhel is a small pedestrian square in the Belleville neighborhood of Paris, sitting at the corner of Rue de Belleville and Rue Julien-Lacroix. About 40 ft (12 m) wide and 80 ft (24 m) long, it has an irregular shape framed by the rear facades of surrounding buildings and a small planted area with fruit trees and wildflowers.
The ground beneath the square was once occupied by buildings that were torn down in the 1930s after construction of the Line 11 metro tunnel below caused cracks to appear in the walls. The open lot remained without a clear purpose for decades before it was set up as a pedestrian zone in the 1980s and given the name of the singer and actress Fréhel.
Place Fréhel takes its name from the stage name of Marguerite Boulc'h, a singer and actress who was well known in France between the two world wars. The walls around the square carry a rotating collection of murals, including a large chalkboard-style painting reading "Il faut se méfier des mots" and a detective scene by Jean Le Gac from 1986 that has been restored several times over the decades.
The square is freely accessible at all times and open to everyone as a pedestrian zone. A small café nearby has a terrace from which you can watch the murals and observe the street while seated.
One of the first artworks on the square came from Ben, the artist Benjamin Vautier, who left a chalkboard-style mural reading "Il faut se méfier des mots" alongside two painted workers in the 1980s. The cone sculpture by Marie Bourget, which seems to project an imaginary beam of light, plays at the boundary between sculpture and optical illusion.
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