Quartier de Saint-Germain-des-Prés is a neighborhood on the Left Bank of the Seine in Paris, south of the Louvre and the Palais-Royal, centered on the Benedictine abbey that gives it its name.
| Type | Place |
| Era | 1648 |
| Spanish entry | Quartier de Saint-Germain-des-Prés |
Description
In 1648 it is a transitional territory between intramural Paris and the suburbs to the south. It holds convents, university colleges, printing shops, inns for travelers from the Midi and noble houses that prefer the faubourg’s discreet distance to the central streets.
During the Fronde
In the parliamentary Fronde the abbey gives the quarter a certain symbolic immunity. Its alleys shelter refugees from the barricades, itinerant preachers and informal negotiators moving between the magistrates of Parliament and the Cardinal’s officers. It is above all a place of passage and of a first night, with the St. Pierre Inn, the Pont de Tuileries within a walk and the shadow of the Cour des Miracles to the north. Those who first came to Paris in the winter of 1648–1649 found here a point of orientation before venturing into the besieged city.