Rue Saint-Denis

first      previous      next      last     

This is the rue Saint-Denis in the center of Paris, near the Forum des Halles. It owes most of its notoriety today to the fact that in recent decades the street has been frequented by large numbers of prostitutes; in fact, in French media and literature (especially around Paris), this street is often used as a metaphor for prostitution and related topics.

Despite this rather unflattering reputation, the street has some other history behind it, and some other modern-day purposes as well. Built in the eighth century, the street was one of the most important thoroughfares in Paris for centuries. It was lined with fancy shops and served as the sovereign’s preferred path in and out of Paris, leading to many royal processions. At one time it even had free fountains that served milk and wine. When kings died, their bodies were often transported by this same road out to their final resting places at Saint-Denis.

Today, the glory of the past is gone, and only a few large monuments remain, such as the Porte Saint-Denis. The lower part of the street, near the Forum, is lined with trendy cafés, bars, and clothing stores appealing to relatively young customers. As you move up the street, the stores and bars yield to sex shops of various kinds; this photograph was taken roughly in the middle of that portion of the street, just above the rue Turbigo. Still further north, the sex shops yield to wholesale clothing outlets as the rue Saint-Denis enters the heart of the Paris garment district. The prostitutes are concentrated between the sex shops and the Porte Saint-Denis; beyond that, the street is pure garment district. During the day, even the portion frequented by ladies of the evening is mostly rag trade. Even further up the street, it becomes lined with ethnic stores, restaurants, and groceries, and still further beyond that, extending up to the end of the street at the northern city limit of Paris, it is lined by Indian shops of various kinds.

The rue Saint-Denis is primarily pedestrian for most of its length south of the Porte Saint-Denis. It has recently been refurbished, along with many other pedestrian zones in this area, and now boasts granite sidewalks and marble cobblestones. It might be pretty if the storefronts weren't so bland.

The prostitutes in this area, many of whom are at the bottom of their own profession, don’t like to have their pictures taken, so you won’t see any portraits of them on my site (indeed, one of them yelled at me just for walking down the street with a camera, even though I had the lens cap on and was obviously not taking anyone’s picture). Apart from that, they are not aggressive—just provocatively dressed, and rather worn and tired-looking in appearance. Many of them are foreigners; most work to support drug habits and are not managed by procurers (pimps) these days; and up to 75% of them are infected with the HIV virus.

Recently, the act of soliciting was made a felony in France, and this has had the effect of driving many prostitutes off the street. They are still present in the rue Saint Denis, but more discreet; time will tell if the new legislation will have a permanent effect on their behavior.

The residents of the street have formed an association to promote improvements of the area; you can visit it at http://www.ruesaintdenis.net.

Photographed on June 20, 2000.