Montmartre

The name Montmartre, an area around a hill is said to be derived from either Mount of Martyrs or from Mount of Mars. It was a small village, inhabited by a mostly farming community.

At the end of the 19th century, Montmartre was the center of artistic life in Paris. Many artists, including Berlioz and Picasso, lived, worked, and played in this thriving hillside community.

Today you’ll find many artists and painters at The Place du Tertre. They can paint your portrait, draw your caricature or cut your silhouette in a black sheet of paper.

Musée de Montmartre

12, rue Cortot, 18th, M° Abbesses or Anvers

Housed in the oldest of the Butte of Montmartre, this museum presents the history of Montmartre.

Lapin Agile

Still going strong among quaint shuttered houses is the Lapin Agile cabaret. Frequented by Verlaine, Renoir, Modigliani, and Max Jacob, the establishment was first known as the "Cabaret des Assassins" until Andre gill decorated its facade with a painting of a lapin (rabbit) balancing a hat on its head and a bottle on its paw. The cabaret immediately gained renown as the "lapin à gill". By the time Picasso began to frequent the establishment, walking over from his first studio at 49, rue Gabrielle, the name had contracted to "lapin Agile"

Windmills

A long time ago Montmartre had 30 windmills. Today there are only two left along the rue Lepic. Moulin de la Galette is over 600 years old and for 50 generations it belonged to the family of millers, called the Debrays.

Around Montmartre

You can walk, take a tourist train or a Montmartre bus for a ride through Montmartre and its narrow streets, the Sacré-Coeur, Place du Tertre, as far as Pigalle.

Times: every day from 7am to approx. 8.30pm.

Where to get on: 18e arr- Jules Joffrin, direction Pigalle (metro : Jules Joffrin).

Things to see around Montmartre

Panoramic views over Paris, Sacré-Coeur, Saint-Pierre de Montmartre, Place du Tertre, rue Cortot and Musée de Montmartre, rue de l'Abreuvoir and Place Dalida, Moulin de la Galette, rue Lepic, rue Gabrielle, Place des Abbesses, Place Pigalle.

The vineyard on the slopes of Montmartre is a vestige of the times when Paris was a collection of little villages. Today the Vigne du Clos Montmartre still produces hundreds of bottles a year for charity.

Visit one of the most impressive church in Paris

Basilique du Sacré-Coeur

Place du Parvis du Sacré-Cœur

Metro: Anvers

More information on www.sacre-coeur-montmartre.com

Opening hours

6am-10.30pm, dome 8.30am-8pm May-Sep, to 5pm Oct-Apr