Napoleon Bonaparte, then French consul, decided in 1802 to build a theatre in the rue des Fossés Saint Victor : the Latin Theatre.
It was inaugurated the folowing year. It was a fashonable establishment, frequented by a clientele that include artists, bourgeois, intellectuals, students, workers, merchants and aristocrats who liked to indulge themselves. It was destroyed by a fire during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. It remained untouch for 17 years. In 1887, in preparation for the Universal Exhibition of 1889, Gustave Eiffel rebuilt the theatre along with its tower. The building was erected on the remains of the old theatre, itself ancored in the remains of the remparts built by Philippe-Auguste in the 13th century. On 20 January 1889, the new theatre was inaugurated under the name Paradis Latin. The boldness of the architecture is praised, which combine large volumes with the appropriate use of metal. It was an immediate success. However, the concert cafés, more numerous than ever, all gave the same type of show. The Paradis Latin sufered from this situation to such an extent that in 1894, the hall closed its doors and the immense premises became a warehouse. It was taken over by the earthenware glasmaker Charles Leune to set up his workshop. It was taken over in 1930 by a pharmaceutical manufacturer who filed bankruptcy. As a result, the place remained unoccupied for a long time. In 1973, the property developer Jean Kriegel buys it and converted it into flats. |
