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Paris
The 14th district is a quiet residential district. Its main feature is
the Montparnasse area.
Population was 132,844 in 1990 (9th most populated district) and land
area is 5.62 km2 (9th largest district). Here is the map:
6th 5th
Boulevard du Montparnasse
-------\--------|---------
Tour Montp./ \ | \
/----------\ | \
Gare / Cim. \ | \
Montp./\ Montp. \ | Obs. \
/ \a \ | \
/ \v Place __________\
/ \. Denfert-R \
15th / \d | \
/ \u | \ 13th
/ \M | \
/ \a | \
/ \i | \
/ \n | \
/ \e | \
/ \ | \
/ \ | \
/---------------rue-d'Alésia------------------\
/ | \
/ | \
/ | Parc \
/ Porte Montsouris\
'---------------------d'Orleans----------------------`
Malakoff Montrouge Gentilly
Top direction is north-west. Everything in italics is
located outside the district.
Montparnasse
Montparnasse extends over the 6th, 14th and 15th districts. The
200m Montparnasse building and the Montparnasse train station are
located in the 15th district, but the 14th
district contains probably the most interesting parts of
Montparnasse.
Montparnasse was famous in the beginning of the century because the
most famous artists and writers lived or hanged around there, after
they left Montmartre. The majority of great European artists came to
Paris then.
You can still see many artist studios, for example in rue
Froidevaux. But if you want to see artists and writers, go to the
Montparnasse cemetary, where many of them are buried, for example
Baudelaire (with his adoptive father), Jean-Paul
Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. The cemetary also contains many
sculptures (or copies).
Montparnasse is one of the main night-life areas in Paris (others
are Saint-Michel, Châtelet-Halles, Pigalle and
Champs-Elysées). The north-west corner of the district contains the
biggest concentration of cinemas in Paris. The same area is also
filled with Breton crêperies (pancake bars), probably because the
trains from Bretagne arrive at the nearby Montparnasse station. A
little south from there, the rue de la Gaîté contains many theaters,
and even more sex-shops.
And also...
The rest of the district is a vast residential area, of which there
is little to say. Place Denfert-Rochereau is famous
for a big bronze lion by Auguste Bartholdi (who also designed the
Statue of Liberty), and the entrance of the Paris
catacombs, an incredible underground castle of skulls and
bones.
One of the weirdest squares in Paris is Place de
Séoul, which is entirely surrounded by a circular building
which facade is made of greek columns in glass. It's not easy to
find. From the Montparnasse station, you need to go south to Place
de Catalogne, then continue to place de l'abbé Lebeuf, and turn
right. Place de Catalogne and Place de Séoul were built by Ricardo
Bofill in the 80s.
Finally, the Parc de Montsouris, in the south-east corner of the
district, is a pleasant English-style park with lawns and trees. It
faces the Cité Universitaire, a sort of town for foreign
students.