Montparnasse

Montparnasse

Quarter of Paris, France on the left bank of the Seine River, centering on the intersection of the Boulevard de Montparnasse and the Boulevard Raspail.

The name Montparnasse stems from the nickname "Mount Parnassus", given to the neighborhood by students who came there to recite poetry. In the 18th century, the Boulevard Montparnasse was laid down and during the Revolution many dance floors and cabarets opened their doors.

The neighborhood became famous at the beginning of the 20th century when it was the heart of intellectual and artistic life in Paris with its legendary cafés: the Dôme, the Rotonde, the Coupole, and others.

In Montparnasse the great minds gathered: Picasso, Fitzgerald, Modigliani, Man Ray, Soutine, Apollinaire, Zadkine, Max Jacob, Fujita, Hemingway, Fargue, Giacometti, Breton, Sartre, Cocteau, Henry Miller, Miro and more.

While the area attracted people from all over the world who came to experience the bohemian lifestyle, it also became home for political exiles such as Lenin and Trotsky.

The quarter also contains the Pasteur Institute, the Montparnasse Cemetery, and the ancient catacombs.