The other church on the hill,Saint Pierre de Montmartre, built in 1147, was the church of the prestigious Montmartre Abbey. On 15 August 1534, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Francis Xavier and five other companions bound themselves by vows in the Martyrium of Saint Denis, 11 Rue Yvonne Le Tac, the first step in the creation of theJesuits.[4]
TheMontmartre Funicular provides access to Sacré-Cœur from the place Saint-Pierre, allowing people to avoid climbing the stairs onRue Foyatier, which runs alongside it and has a total of 222 stairs.
TheRATP bus lines 30, 31, 54, 67, 74, 80, 85 and 95[6] also cross the neighborhood, as does line 40[6][7] (formerly Montmartrobus), the only one to run on the Montmartre hilltop.
Finally, the Montmartretram also offers a guided tour of the area in 14 stages.
The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 contains 60 ha (150 acres)[8] and is bordered by Rue Caulaincourt and Rue Custine on the north, by Rue de Clignancourt on the east, and by theBoulevard de Clichy andBoulevard de Rochechouart to the south.[9]
A proposedetymology suggests that thetoponym Montmartre originates fromMons Martis, Latin for "Mount of Mars". This name would have been given to the place due to the fact that there were temples in honor of the godsMars andMercury on top of its hill.[10] This would explain the fact thatFredegar called the area "Mons-Mercurii" in the8th century and, althoughHilduin of Saint-Denis used the same name in the9th century, his contemporary, the monkAbbo Cernuus, called it "Mons-Martis".[10][11] Although he failed to present evidence for this and directly contradicted several historical accounts,Jean Lebeuf denied the fact that these temples ever existed.[10]
Another etymology proposes that the name comes from "mons Martyrum", meaning "Mount of the Martyrs". This would have been a reinterpretation of "Mount of Mars" as "Mount of Martyrs" ("Mont de Mars" and "Mont des Martyrs" inFrench, respectively). This transformation would have been documented by Hilduin, who stated that the hill started to be called "Mons Martyrum", "martyrum" referring to "the place of torture or burial of martyrs".[12] After this, it would have transformed into "mont de "martre" " ("mount of the martyr" in english) throughmorphological derivation, "martre" meaning "martyr" inOld French.[13]
Since consensus on the etymology of this toponym is yet to be reached,[14] both etymologies presented here are considered valid.
Saint-Pierre de Montmartre (originally 1133, much of it destroyed in 1790 and rebuilt in the 19th century) seen from the dome of the Basilica of the Sacré-CœurTheMoulin de la Galette, painted byVincent van Gogh in 1887 (Carnegie Museum of Art)
Archaeological excavations show that the heights of Montmartre were occupied from at least Gallo-Roman times. Texts from the 8th century cite the name ofmons Mercori (Mount Mercury); a 9th-century text speaks of Mount Mars. Excavations in 1975 north of theChurch of Saint-Pierre found coins from the 3rd century and the remains of a major wall. Earlier excavations in the 17th century at the Fontaine-du-But (2 rue Pierre-Dac) found vestiges of Roman baths from the 2nd century.[9]
The butte owes its particular religious importance to the text entitledMiracles of Saint-Denis, written before 885 byHilduin, abbot of the monastery of Saint-Denis, which recounted howSaint Denis, a Christian bishop, was decapitated on the hilltop in 250 AD on orders of the Roman prefect Fescennius Sisinius for preaching the Christian faith to the Gallo-Roman inhabitants ofLutetia. According to Hilduin, Denis collected his head and carried it as far as thefontaine Saint-Denis (on modernimpasse Girardon), then descended the north slope of the hill, where he died. Hilduin wrote that a church had been built "in the place formerly called Mont de Mars, and then, by a happy change, 'Mont des Martyrs'."[9]
In 1134, KingLouis VI purchased the Merovingian chapel and built on the site the church ofSaint-Pierre de Montmartre, still standing. He also foundedthe Royal Abbey of Montmartre, a monastery of theBenedictine order, whose buildings, gardens and fields occupied most of Montmartre. He also built a small chapel, called theMartyrium, at the site where it was believed that Saint Denis had been decapitated. It became a popular pilgrimage site. In the 17th century, a priory calledabbaye d'en bas was built at that site, and in 1686 it was occupied by a community of nuns.[9]
By the 15th century, the north and northeast slopes of the hill were the site of a village surrounded by vineyards, gardens and orchards ofpeach andcherry trees. The first mills were built on the western slope in 1529, grindingwheat,barley andrye. There were thirteen mills at one time, though by the late nineteenth century only two remained.[9]
During the 1590Siege of Paris, in the last decade of theFrench Wars of Religion,Henry IV placed hisartillery on top of thebutte of Montmartre to fire down into the city. The siege eventually failed when a large relief force approached and forced Henry to withdraw.
The abbey was destroyed in 1790 during theFrench Revolution, and the convent demolished to make place forgypsummines. The last abbess,Marie-Louise de Laval-Montmorency, was guillotined in 1794.[15] The church of Saint-Pierre was saved. At the place where the chapel of the Martyrs was located (now 11 rue Yvonne-Le Tac), an oratory was built in 1855. It was renovated in 1994.[9]
The Chapel of the Martyrs of Montmartre Abbey in the 17th century
In 1790, Montmartre was located just outside the limits of Paris. That year, under the revolutionary government of theNational Constituent Assembly, it became thecommune of Montmartre, with its town hall located onplace du Tertre, site of the former abbey. The main businesses of thecommune were wine making, stone quarries and gypsum mines.
The mining of gypsum had begun in theGallo-Roman period, first in open air mines and then underground, and continued until 1860. The gypsum was cut into blocks, baked, then ground and put into sacks. Sold asmontmartarite, it was used for plaster, because of its resistance to fire and water. Between the 7th and 9th centuries, most of the sarcophagi found in ancient sites were made of molded gypsum. In modern times, the mining was done with explosives, which riddled the ground under the butte with tunnels, making the ground very unstable and difficult to build upon. The construction of the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur required making a special foundation that descended 40 metres (130 ft) under the ground to hold the structure in place.[16] Afossil tooth found in one of these mines was identified byGeorges Cuvier as an extinctequine, which he dubbedPalaeotherium, the "ancient animal". His sketch of the entire animal in 1825 was matched by a skeleton discovered later.[17]
Russian soldiers occupied Montmartre during theBattle of Paris in 1814. They used the altitude of the hill for artillery bombardment of the city.
Montmartre remained outside of the city limits of Paris until January 1, 1860, when it was annexed to the city along with other communities (faubourgs) surrounding Paris, and became part of the18th arrondissement of Paris.
In 1871, Montmartre was the site of the beginning of the revolutionary uprising of theParis Commune. During theFranco-Prussian War, the French army had stored a large number of cannon in a park at the top of the hill, near where the basilica is today. On 18 March 1871, the soldiers from the French Army tried to remove the cannon from the hilltop. They were blocked by members of the politically radicalised ParisNational Guard, who captured and then killed two French army generals, and installed a revolutionary government that lasted two months. The heights of Montmartre were retaken by the French Army with heavy fighting at the end of May 1871, during what became known as theSemaine Sanglante, or "Bloody Week".[18]
In 1870, the future French prime minister during World War I,Georges Clemenceau, was appointed mayor of the 18th arrondissement, including Montmartre, by the new government of theThird Republic, and was also elected to theNational Assembly. A member of the radical republican party, Clemenceau tried unsuccessfully to find a peaceful compromise between the even more radical Paris Commune and the more conservative French government. The Commune refused to recognize him as mayor, and seized the town hall. He ran for a seat in the council of the Paris Commune, but received less than eight hundred votes. He did not participate in the Commune, and was out of the city when the Commune was suppressed by the French army. In 1876, he again was elected as deputy for Montmartre and the 18th arrondissement.[19]
The Basilica of theSacré-Cœur was built on Montmartre from 1876 to 1919, financed by public subscription as a gesture ofexpiation for the suffering of France during theFranco-Prussian War. Its white dome is a highly visible landmark in the city, and near it artists set up their easels each day amidst the tables and colourful umbrellas of theplace du Tertre.
During theBelle Époque from 1872 to 1914, many artists lived and worked in Montmartre, where the rents were low and the atmosphere congenial.Pierre-Auguste Renoir rented space at12 rue Cortot in 1876 to paintBal du moulin de la Galette, showing a dance at Montmartre on a Sunday afternoon.Maurice Utrillo lived at the same address from 1906 to 1914, andRaoul Dufy shared an atelier there from 1901 to 1911. The building is now theMusée de Montmartre.[21]Pablo Picasso,Amedeo Modigliani and other artists lived and worked in a building calledLe Bateau-Lavoir during the years 1904–1909, where Picasso painted one of his most important masterpieces,Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Several composers, includingErik Satie, lived in the neighbourhood. Most of the artists left after the outbreak of World War I, the majority of them going to theMontparnasse quarter.[22]
The last of thebohemian Montmartre artists wasGen Paul (1895–1975), born in Montmartre and a friend of Utrillo. Paul's calligraphic expressionist lithographs, sometimes memorializing picturesque Montmartre itself, owe a lot toRaoul Dufy.
The view from the butte looking towardsCentre Georges PompidouThe Montmartre "petit train" doing its rounds near theMoulin RougecabaretThe stairs of theRue FoyatierVineyard in the Rue Saint-Vincent; the day of the Feast of gardens, 15 days after harvest
There is a smallvineyard in the Rue Saint-Vincent, which continues the tradition of wine production in the Île de France, and awild garden, occupied bymidwife toads, also in the Rue Saint-Vincent.[25][26] The vineyard yields about 500 litres (110 imp gal; 130 US gal) of wine per year.[27]
TheMusée de Montmartre is in the house where the paintersMaurice Utrillo andSuzanne Valadon lived and worked in second-floor studios. The house wasPierre-Auguste Renoir's first Montmartre address. Many other personalities moved through the premises. The mansion in the garden at the back is the oldest hotel on Montmartre, and one of its first owners was Claude de la Rose, a 17th-century actor known asRosimond, who bought it in 1680. Claude de la Rose was the actor who replacedMolière, and who, like his predecessor, died on stage.
Downhill to the southwest is thered-light district ofPigalle. That area is, today, largely known for a wide variety of stores specializing in instruments for rock music. There are also several concert halls, also used for rock music. The actual Moulin Rouge theatre is also in Pigalle, near the Blanche métro station.
In 2024, the area hosted the final finishing circuits of themen's andwomen's cycling road race at theParis 2024 Summer Olympics, with large crowds attending the race.[28] And the final stage of the2025 Tour de France, which used a part of the same circuit.[29]
Roy Walton, the English card magician, named a card trick Montmartre published inThe Complete Walton Volume 1. It features many climaxes throughout the trick including colour changes and card swaps.
The Heart of a Nation (released 1943) features a family resident in Montmartre from 1870 to 1939.
An American in Paris (1951), withGene Kelly andLeslie Caron, was the winner of the Oscar for the best film of 1951. Many important scenes, including the last scenes are set in Montmartre (most of the film was shot in Hollywood).
French Cancan (1954), a French musical comedy withJean Gabin andMaría Félix, takes place in Montmartre, and tells the story of the Moulin Rouge and the invention of the famous dance. The director,Jean Renoir, was the son of the painterPierre-Auguste Renoir, who lived for a time in Montmartre.
The Great Race (1965), shows Professor Fate in the "Hannibal 8" driving down the basilica steps after a wrong turn while racing to the Eiffel tower.
C'était un rendez-vous (1976), a nine-minute high-speed driving throughParis to the rendezvous point at Montmarte.
Ronin (1998): Outside of the café at the beginning and end.
Amélie (2001): the tale of a young Parisian woman determined to help the lives of others and find her true love, is set in Montmartre and includes a key scene in the gardens below the basilica.
Moulin Rouge! (2001): a musical film set in Montmartre, is about the night club and a young writer (Ewan McGregor) who falls in love with a prominent courtesan (Nicole Kidman).
Remake (2003): Bosnianwar film tells the parallel coming-of-age stories of a father living inSarajevo during World War II and his son living through theSiege of Sarajevo during theBosnian War. Part of the film was shot in Paris and important scene take place in Montmartre. The film starsFrançois Berléand andÉvelyne Bouix.
Paris, je t'aime (2006): this anthology features several romantic encounters, each one taking place in a differentarrondissement of Paris. Bruno Podalydès' short film is set in Montmartre.
La Môme (2007) (La vie en rose): tells the life of French singerÉdith Piaf who was discovered while singing inPigalle, bordering Montmartre.
Midnight in Paris (2011) opens with a succession of still shots of Paris, many images of Montmartre are shown among them: the Sacré-Coeur square, the Montmartre museum, the Moulin-Rouge and a few narrow streets.
Bastille Day (2016) opens with a pickpocket (the main antagonist) pickpocketing on the stairs in front of the Sacré-Cœur with an accomplice.
In "La Bohème", a 1965 song by singer-songwriterCharles Aznavour, a painter recalls his youthful years in a Montmartre that has, for him, ceased to exist: "I no longer recognize/Either the walls or the streets/That had seen my youth/At the top of a staircase/I look for my studio/Of which nothing survives/In its new décor/Montmartre seems sad/And the lilacs are dead'). The song is a farewell to what, according to Aznavour, were the last days of Montmartre as a site of bohemian activity.
TheSlade song "Far Far Away" (1974) mentions it in passing in the third verse: "I've seen the Paris lights from high upon Montmartre/And felt the silence hanging low in No Man's Land".
Lucienne Delyle's "LeMoulin de la Galette" (1946) talks about an old windmill in Montmartre, an iconic landmark depicted by various artists throughout history.
Cora Vaucaire's "La Complainte de la Butte" (1955) talks about the butte Montmartre, and more specifically the top of the Saint-Vincent street stairs: "the top of Saint-Vincent street" and "The stairs of the Butte are hard on the miserables". There is also a mention of the Montmartre windmills "The wings of windmills protect lovers".
Le Bateau-Lavoir, c. 1910, the home and studio of many famous artists, includingPablo Picasso andAmedeo Modigliani. The building, at No. 13 Rue Ravignan at Place Emile Goudeau, was later burned in a fire and rebuilt.Wall of Love on Montmartre: "I love you" in 250 languages, by calligraphist Fédéric Baron and artist Claire Kito (2000)
^Montésinos, Christian (2011).Eléments de mythologie sacrée aux XIIe et XIIIe siècles en France. Collection Les veilleurs. Bonneuil-en-Valois: Éditions de la Hutte.ISBN978-2-916123-41-7.
^Paul Lesourd,La Butte sacrée. Montmartre des origines au xxe siècle, Éditions Spes, 1937, p. 432.
^Knell, Simon J.; Macleod, Suzanne; Watson, Sheila E. R. (1967).Museum revolutions: how museums change and are changed. Abingdon-on-Thames, England:Routledge.ISBN978-0-415-44467-5.
Brigstocke, Julian.The Life of the City: Space, Humour, and the Experience of Truth in Fin-de-siècle Montmartre (Ashgate, 2014) xv + 230pponline review
Cate, Phillip Dennis and Mary Shaw.The Spirit of Montmartre: Cabarets, Humor, and the Avant-Garde 1875–1905 (Rutgers University Press, 1996)
Weisberg, Gabriel, ed.Montmartre and the Making of Mass Culture (Rutgers U. Press, 2001)
Vie quotidienne a Montmartre au temps de Picasso, 1900–1910 (Daily Life on Montmartre in the Times of Picasso) was written byJean-Paul Crespelle, an author-historian who specialized in the artistic life of Montmartre and Montparnasse.
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