Search hotels in 14th arrondissement - Montparnasse

Sprawling along the left bank of the Seine River, the neighbourhood of Montparnasse lay within Paris’ 14th arrondissement and was the heart of the capital’s intellectual and artistic life during the 1920s and 1930s. While the previous generation of artists had settled in Montmartre, those that inhabited Montparnasse’s cheap studios were renowned for having a more gritty and politically-driven edge.

Montparnasse attracted artists from across the globe, with a fusion of cultures, ideas and creative energies resulting in a distinctly open and eccentric atmosphere. Juan Gris, Matisse, Manuel Ortiz de Zárate, Man Ray and Tsuguharu Foujita are among some of the artists who gathered here, many of whom etched out an almost penniless existence while their works are being sold for hundreds of thousands today. The Musée du Montparnasse is a good place to uncover the area’s vibrant creative roots, while cafes such as La Closerie des Lilas, Le Dôme, and La Rotonde once served as meeting points for writers like Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The theatres and music halls along the Rue de la Gaité, including the iconic Bobino, gave birth to some of Paris’ biggest names, while political exiles including Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky and Porfirio Diaz found a home in Montparnasse’s socially-accepting streets. The area was also visited by wealthy American socialites like Peggy Guggenheim, who was influential in purchasing works that would go on to become internationally recognised masterpieces, and the renowned Pasteur Institute which now provides vital research into vaccines.

Montparnasse is easily accessible from the Montparnasse-Bienvenue metro station and Place Denfert-Rochereau, which also provides surface access to the underground ossuaries of the Catacombs of Paris. There are direct trains to Brittany, Rennes, Bordeaux and Le Mans from the Gare Montparnasse, and sidewalks throughout the neighbourhood make it pleasant to explore on foot.

The area was first given its name by 17th century students who came to recite poetry in its hills and nicknamed it “Mount Parnassus”, the home of Greek mythology’s nine Muses of arts and sciences. During the 18th century, the hill was levelled to build the Boulevard Montparnasse where numerous dance halls and cabarets opened their doors.