THE GIANT HAUSSMANIAN ESPLANADE ERASED THE MEDIEVAL NEIGHBORHOOD AND DILUTES THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE*
*As pointed out in Notre-Dame of Paris by Allan Temko in 1957, a classic, but not to my knowledge today.
Located between Saint-Michel and City Hall — so at the heart of the military complex — the parvis covers almost two acres.
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When houses crowded up to the cathedral's facade i
t surged up over daily life to recall eternity, the impression its builders intended:Blown up engraving at the Hôtel-Dieu hospital (please see the next page)
The space was enlarged in the 18th century, but remained tiny in comparison with its extent today.
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The official explanation: eliminate a slum, source of crime and epidemics, and make residents move to a healthier periphery. To be sure, the slum was so notorious that this first novel about Parisian crime starts with a fight there. But poverty was everywhere, except in the wealthy west.
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The real reasons:
- Remove the turbulent underclass population.
- Create space for the army to repress Latin Quarter students should they rise again:
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