General Information

Barrière d’Enfer (The gate of Hell) is a relic of the Wall of the Farmers-General installed on the site of the present Place Denfert-Rochereau. It has two still existing pavilions, built by neoclassical architect Claude Nicolas Ledoux in 1787. These buildings are adorned with carved friezes by Jean Guillaume Moitte representing female dancers.

Additional Information

The name of the place came from the Rue d’Enfer, whose current name is Rue Denfert-Rochereau. Some historians believe it was called Rue d’Enfer because it was ‘a place of debauchery and robberies.’

The main routes starting from the Barrière d’Enfer were the Boulevard d’Enfer (a part of the current boulevard Raspail), the Rue d’Enfer (Avenue Denfert-Rochereau and Boulevard Saint-Michel) and the Boulevard Saint–Jacques.

The third scene of the opera ‘La Bohème’ by Giacomo Puccini portrays Mimi leaving Paris through the Barrière d’Enfer to get to a tavern nearby.