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| Fontaine des Innocents |
Location: Corner of Rue Saint Denis and Rue Berger
English translation
"This was the site of the Cimètiere des Innocents, the city's largest cemetery, with over two million graves, until it was closed in 1785 and the bones transferred to the Catacombs. The Fountain has changed location three times. Originally, it stood at the corner of rue Saint-Denis and rue Berger (then rue aux Fers), and had three sides, decorated between 1547 and 1550 by Jean Goujon. After the destruction of the Saints-Innocents church, to which it was attached, it was dismantled and rebuilt in the center of the market. It was then necessary to add a fourth face to the south, the work of Pajou, with three new naiads [water nymphs] sculpted by Houdon. It was dismantled again in 1865 and installed in its present location." (Translated by DeepL)
Background notes
- The Fountain of the Innocents was originally erected in the mid 1500s on the site of an earlier fountain. It was designed by architect Pierre Lescot and sculpted by Jean Goujon as a three-sided structure that complemented the adjacent Church of the Saints-Innocents.
- This Renaissance style fountain is the oldest monumental fountain in Paris and was commissioned as part of the decoration of the city to commemorate the royal entry of King Henry II into Paris in 1549.
- The Saints-Innocents church (to which it was attached) was built around 1130 by order of Louis VI le Gros. It was dedicated to the Holy Innocents.
- Adjacent to the church, the Cimetière des Innocents dates back until at least the 12th century. It was closed in the 1780s due to overuse, severe overcrowding, and public health concerns. The final closure was prompted by a wall collapse that caused bodies to spill into a neighboring property.
- At the time, the Catacombs referred to were unused subterranean quarries near Montparnasse in Paris. They were consecrated in 1786 to serve as a new resting place for the remains exhumed from the Cimetière des Innocents and other closed Parisian cemeteries.
- The name of the church, cemetery and the Fountain all reference the same event, the Massacre of the Innocents. This biblical event, described in the Gospel of Matthew, recounts King Herod's order to kill all male infants in Bethlehem to eliminate a perceived threat to his throne following the birth of Jesus. The church, cemetery and fountain paid homage to these slaughtered innocents, who were recognised as martyrs in the Christian tradition.
- The church was destroyed around the same time as the cemetery's clearance, forcing the fountain's relocation and the addition of its fourth face.
- Augustin Pajou and Jean-Antoine Houdon were French sculptors. Pajou added the fourth face to the fountain, while Houdon sculpted three new naiads. Naiads are water nymphs from Greek mythology, often depicted in fountain sculptures.
- The market (Marché des Innocents), where the Fountain was relocated, refers to the flower and herb market established in 1788 in the newly constructed square after the closure / destruction of the cemetery and church.
- Although highly decorative, the fountain's four basins served as the primary water supply for the entire market.
- The markets officially closed in 1858 to make way for the renovated les Halles marketplace.