The Boulevard des Capucines is one of the four 'grands boulevards' in Paris, a chain of boulevards running east-west that also includes Boulevard de la Madeleine, Boulevard des Italiens, and Boulevard Montmartre.
The name comes from a beautiful convent of Capuchine nuns whose garden was on the south side of the boulevard prior to the French Revolution.
The former name, Rue Basse-du-Rempart ("bottom-of-the-wall street" in French), suggests that, in the beginning, the street paralleled the city wall of Paris. Then, when the wall was destroyed, the street was widened and became a boulevard.
Read more about Boulevard Des Capucines: Notable Places
Famous quotes containing the words boulevard and/or des:
“Arrive in the afternoon, the late light slanting
In diluted gold bars across the boulevard brag
Of proud, seamed faces with mercy and murder hinting
here, there, interrupting, all deep and debonair,
The pink paint on the innocence of fear;
Walk in a gingerly manner up the hall.”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)
“One difference between Nazi and Soviet camps was that in the latter dying was a slower process.”
—Terrence Des Pres (1939–1987)