PARIS STREETS : HISTORIC BACKGROUND
History of Paris France

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During the reign of Louis XIV there were 853 streets in Paris. There are now more than 5400!

Streets were then very narrow, often dirty and covered with mud.

It was King Philippe Auguste who decided to cobble the streets. Cobbling was first applied on the most used streets: “Saint-Jacques, Saint-Martin, Saint-Antoine and Saint-Honoré” and also on the “Petit-Pont” and on “Pont au Change”.

In the past, streets were dark and muddy with an only one gutter in the middle.

Pavements did not exist but basic milestones were used to protect pedestrians from the traffic.

It is only under Napoleon Ist, in 1805 that the central gutter was suppressed and that the milestones gave way to pavements.

Before 1728, as people could not read, streets were given self-explanatory ensigns. They were self-spoken. Street names did not exist (the first street sign was produced in 1728). House numbers did not exist either. Only houses built after 1806 will bear numbers.

• Lighting : Originally, Paris streets were lit only by candle lanterns, by lamp posts and in 1829 the first lighting systems were put up on the public highway.
  
  
• Traffic : For centuries carts, mules or horses, without mentioning walking were the only means of transportation. From the 19th century trolleys appeared as the first popular public transportation. The underground started in 1900. Then, in the 20th century arrived the first motor cars.
  
  
• Water : the water from the river was the first one to be used. To meet the first inhabitants’needs for water, Julien the Emperor (331-363), had erected an aqueduc which ran from the Bièvre valley to Arcueil.

The left bank dwells were used in the Middle-ages.

Under King Philippe Auguste, water from "Pré-Saint-Gervais" and those of "Belleville" carried by an aqueduc supplied the fountains.

Under King Henri IV the water supply was complemented in using the Seine water by way of a pump called "La Samaritaine" set up on "Pont-Neuf".

Supplies in drinking water and the draining of used waters were sorted out by producing a sewage system and developing manure spreadings in fields.

PARIS STREETS CARRIED TO THE EXTREME

• Vaugirard street is the longest of Paris with 4360 meters
  
  
• The rue des Degrès is the shortest one with 5,75 meters
  
  
• The Foch avenue is 120 meters wide
  
  
• The rue du Chat qui Pêche (The Fishing Cat street)
  is the narrowest with a 2,50 meters to 7 meters width !

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