Montparnasse
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Featured:  Illustration: Portrait fantaisiste du marquis de Sade (1866) by H. Biberstein |
Montparnasse is an area of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine. The area also gives its name to Montparnasse Cemetery, where Charles Baudelaire, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Samuel Beckett are buried
The name Montparnasse stems from the nickname "Mount Parnassus" (In Greek mythology, home to the nine Greek goddesses — the Muses — of the arts and sciences) given to the hilly neighbourhood in the 17th century by students who came there to recite poetry. The hill was levelled to construct the Boulevard Montparnasse in the 18th century. During the French Revolution many dance halls and cabarets opened their doors, giving rise to artistic Montparnasse.
