Quai des Célestins, Riverfront in 4th arrondissement of Paris, France
The Quai des Célestins is a public riverbank along the right side of the Seine in Paris's 4th arrondissement. The space offers room to walk and direct access to shops, cafes, and river views.
The name comes from the Couvent des Célestins, a Celestine convent established here in 1352; it was later replaced by the Caserne des Célestins of the Garde républicaine. The quay was rebuilt and paved in 1705. The main entrance of the vanished Hôtel Saint-Pol also stood on this quay.
The name comes from the Celestine convent founded here in 1352, later replaced by the Caserne des Célestins of the Garde républicaine. At no. 32 a Histoire de Paris panel marks the former Tour Barbeau, demolished around 1600. Nearby stood the jeu de paume de la Croix-Noire, where Molière and the Illustre Théâtre played in 1645; he was arrested there over a debt to his candlemaker.
The quay runs about 400 metres along the right bank, continued upstream by the quai Henri-IV and downstream by the quai de l'Hôtel-de-Ville. Metro line 7 stops at Pont Marie and Sully-Morland, and buses 67, 86 and 87 also serve it. Stairs lead down from the quay to the Parc Rives-de-Seine; the only building on the odd-numbered side is the maison des Célestins, entered from the quay.
At no. 32, a Histoire de Paris panel marks the site of the former Tour Barbeau, demolished at the end of the 16th or the very start of the 17th century. Nearby stood the jeu de paume de la Croix-Noire, where Molière and the Illustre Théâtre troupe played in 1645; the playwright was arrested there over a debt to his candlemaker and taken to the Grand Châtelet.
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