Im a travel junky who loves to gain
knowledge coz u know knowledge is power
Ménilmontant
Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share
Sign in
Ménilmontant ([menilmɔ̃tɑ̃]) is a neighbourhood of Paris, situated in the city's 20th arrondissement. It is affectionately known to locals as "Ménilmuche".
Originally a hamlet within the independent commune (municipality) of Belleville, Ménilmontant was, like other suburban communes surrounding the French capital, absorbed into the city of Paris in 1860. The name is said to derive from Mesnil Mautemps, meaning "bad weather house". By the 16th century mautemps had been corrupted into montant (meaning "climbing"), probably owing to its situation on a hill overlooking Paris.
In 1832, the area also served as the location of a retreat, established by the Saint-Simonian theorist Enfantin and forty followers. Before its 1860 absorption into Paris, Ménilmontant lay beyond the capital's tax border (octroi), so that wine was cheaper there, leading to the development of numerous drinking establishments, known as guinguettes, in the 18th century. It has long been a predominantly working-class neighborhood, and in the early 1830s became notorious for the commune established there by the Saint-Simonians before being banned by the authorities.
Transport
Ménilmontant is served by the Ménilmontant station of the Métro.
In popular culture
Literature
Menilmontant is the scene of the first part of Russian-born Andrei Makine's novel La vie d'un homme inconnu.
Ménilmontant is a song by the French singer Charles Trenet. An instrumental version was recorded by Django Reinhardt in 1949/50.
"Rue de Ménilmontant" is a song by the French singer Camille Dalmais.
Cinema
Ménilmontant is a 1926 film written and directed by Dimitri Kirsanoff which takes its name from the Paris neighbourhood Ménilmontant.
The character Garance, in the classic French film Les Enfants du Paradis (1945), hails from Ménilmontant.
Ménilmontant was the setting of the classic French movie Casque d'or (1952), which starred Simone Signoret, the fantasy short The Red Balloon (1956), and the silent experimental short Ménilmontant (1926) directed by Dimitri Kirsanoff.
