The old village of Charonne lies off the beaten track. In 1860 it became part of Paris.
The center of Charonne is the church of St Germain de Charonne dating back to 1460, which was built on a church founded in the 12th century then rebuilt in the 13th. Bits have been added over the centuries.
Part of what's below comes from the 18th century hodgepodged over previous eras.
St Germain de Charonne's cemetary is the last one in Paris still attached to a church. It sits atop a hill behind the Charonne reservoir and you reach it by a staircase as steep as those in Montmartre.
The wall plaque commemorates where people were shot during the uprising in the Commune.
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The guardian and the Priest of the Church live here.
The old Charonne train station, long out of use, has become a theatre and club.
If you descend from the Church you enter what still feels like the old village of Charonne in the 20th arrondissement. Follow cobbled rue St Blaise and a few shops remain.
Then you reach Place des Grés and it's as if time stopped somewhere in the 19th century.
Even the cats greet you.
Cara - Tuesday
The wall plaque commemorates where people were shot during the uprising in the Commune..jpg)
The guardian and the Priest of the Church live here..jpg)
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You and I seem to be on off the beaten track journeys at the moment, Cara. I'm a mile up along a Tuscany-like olive grove covered hillside amid 16th Century stone towers in the Peloponnese's Mani region. Thank you for returning me to "civilization." :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tour, Cara! Your one-liner:
ReplyDelete"The wall plaque commemorates where people were shot during the uprising in the Commune."
rang no bells (church or otherwise) for me, so a quick Google and I'm drowning in a Wikipedia page on the Commune and the uprising and Napolean III and wars and invasions and social unrest and assassinations and revolutions and...
Sheesh. There is SO much history in this world, just that single little one-liner could lead one to writing hundreds of books about just that one little slice of time in part of Europe. No wonder we, as individuals, specialize as much as we do!!!
Jeff throw some olives in your pocket for Albany, ok?
ReplyDeleteEverett, yes these Communards were supposedly buried behind in what is now the Charonne reservoir. But I think their bones were removed, hope so, and I believe many were also shot against a wall in Pere Lachaise cemetary where they didn't have to go to be interred.
Tumultuous times are not a product of our modern times. So instructive, and also charming.
ReplyDelete