La place de Grève, Nicolas-Jean-Baptiste Raguenet (1715 - 1793)
Historically, the location of the ‘Hotel de Ville’ (town hall) was a strand. The strand was a sandy shore on which people unloaded merchandise from mother ships. It was around this rudimentary port that the Paris ‘right bank’ materialised.
The place of the ‘grève’ (strand) was for a long time the emotional heart of Paris and therefore the heart of France. It was the place of all the rebellion and also the place marking national reunification - it was marked by both grief and festivities.
Famous as a place of execution until the revolution of July (1830), in addition the ‘grève’ was a place of celebration especially on Midsummer Eve for the traditional St John fireworks. It also marked the place where on 25th August 1944 Charles de Gaulle made the renowned speech in front the Parisian crowd, in which he proclaimed: “ Paris offended, Paris martyred, but Paris freed!”
Finally, the grève was also a meeting place for the down and out and the unemployed ... this is the origin of the expression ‘faire la grève’ (to be on strike) !
Translation in English : Emmanuelle
French version of this post. Spanish version of this post.
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