Montmartre (translated: Mountain of the Martyrs) is a hill in Paris and the historic district that sits on top of it. Originally an independent commune, it was annexed to Paris in 1860 and became part of the 18th arrondissement. Montmartre is located in the north of the city and is the highest natural point in Paris. Its peak, at 130.53 m, is located in the area of the Calvaire cemetery near the church of Saint-Pierre de Montmartre. A cable car or staircase of 222 steps leads to the top. It is one of the most important tourist sites in Paris. Notable sights here include the Sacré-Cœur Basilica or the world-famous French cabaret Moulin Rouge at the foot of the hill. The hill is reached by metro lines 2 (Anvers, Pigalle and Blanche stations) and 12 (Pigalle, Abbesses, Lamarck - Caulaincourt and Jules Joffrin stations). The streets are also served by the Montmartrobus.
Montmartre was for a long time an independent village outside the walls of Paris. Its Latin name was Mons Martyrum, fr. Mont des martyrs (i.e. the Mountain of Martyrs). According to legend, the first bishop of Paris, Saint Divis, was beheaded here, along with his two disciples. Legend has it that after the execution, St. Divis took his severed head and walked north with it to where the Basilica of Saint-Denis is located today, where he is buried.
In fact, Montmartre derives its name from Mons Martis (Mart's Mountain), as a temple dedicated to the god of war, Mart, stood here in Gallo-Roman times. Today, its site is occupied by the church of Saint-Pierre de Montmartre, which preserves four columns dating back to antiquity. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the Christian era, the name mont de Mars was interpreted as mont de martre (martre in Old French referred to today's martyr, martyr). During the siege of Paris in 1590, Henry IV had two artillery batteries placed north of Paris: one at the top of Montmartre and the other near the Montfaucon gallows, from which he shelled the city.
Historical view of Montmartre
After the creation of communes and departments by the decree of 12 November 1789 of the National Assembly, Montmartre became an independent commune in the Seine department from March 1790. The town walls of 1785-1788 divided the old parish into two parts. Upper Montmartre became a separate commune and lower Montmartre was incorporated into Paris. The first mayor of the independent Montmartre in 1790 was Félix Desportes (1763-1849), a bourgeois originally from Rouen, who took up residence at Place du Tertre No. 3 in 1788. He converted his house into a town hall and held the post until April 1793.
In 1840-1845 the so-called Thiers walls were built, which divided the village into two parts again. On 1 January 1860, when Paris expanded to the Thiers walls, the territory of Montmartre was administratively separated. The larger part inside the walls was annexed to Paris and became part of the 18th arrondissement, known as Buttes-Montmartre. The smaller part outside the walls was annexed to the commune of Saint-Ouen
Most of the historic area of the former commune of Montmartre is now the western part of the 18th arrondissement, with a smaller part in the north of the 9th arrondissement (Batignolles district). Montmartre was an important site of the Paris Commune in 1871. On 18 March 1871, after entering Paris, Adolphe Thiers had cannons placed here to shell the city. On 16 June 1875, the foundation stone of the Sacré-Cœur Basilica was laid at the top of the hill, which was not consecrated until after World War I in 1919. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Montmartre became a favourite place for artists such as Camille Pissarro, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Théophile Alexandre Steinlen, Vincent van Gogh, Amedeo Modigliani and Pablo Picasso. Later, the artists moved to the Montparnasse district on the Left Bank.
Picasso spent the first years of the 20th century between Barcelona and Paris, where his long relationship with Fernande Olivier began in 1904. It is she who appears in many paintings of the time. After gaining fame and some wealth, Picasso left Olivier for Marcelle Humbert, whom he called Eva. Picasso expressed his love for her in many cubist paintings.
In Paris he met people like André Breton, Guillaume Apollinaire and the writer Gertrude Stein. In addition to his wife, he had a number of mistresses. He was married twice and had four children with three wives. In 1918 Picasso married the ballerina Olga Chochlova, who introduced him to life in the upper classes of society. They had a son, Paul, who later became a motorcycle racer and also his father's driver.
Picasso often argued with Chochel
She insisted on social behaviour, while he was more inclined to bohemian behaviour. In 1927 Picasso met the seventeen-year-old Marie-Thérèse Walter and began a secret affair with her. His marriage to Chochel soon ended in separation. Picasso did not want a divorce because, under French law, Chochlova would have received half of his estate. So they remained married until 1955, when Chochlova died.
Picasso continued his relationship with Walter for a long time and had a daughter with her, whom he named Maia. Marie-Thérèse lived the rest of her life in the hope that Picasso would one day marry her, hanging herself 4 years after his death. Dora Maar, a photographer and painter, was also Picasso's mistress for a long time. They were closest in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and it was she who documented the painting Guernica.
After the liberation of Paris in 1944, Picasso got together with a young art student, Françoise Gilot. They had two children together, Claude and Paloma. Gilot was the only one of Picasso's wives to leave him in 1953, allegedly because of his abusive treatment and infidelity. Picasso was devastated. He went through a difficult period when he realised that at 70 he was no longer attractive to young women and looked rather ridiculous next to them. Several drawings from that time make this clear - they show an ugly dwarf and a beautiful young woman. In 2005, Geneviève Laporte, who had a brief love affair with Picasso, auctioned off just such drawings by Picasso, which include herself.
Another love of Picasso was Jacqueline Roque, who worked in the Madoura pottery where Picasso created and painted ceramics. He married her in 1961 and they were together until the end of Picasso's life. This marriage also represented part of Guillot's revenge. She was trying to find a way to legitimize the two children she had with Picasso. Picasso encouraged her to divorce her husband and claimed he would marry her afterwards. But instead, he married Roque. Picasso was a well-known figure and people were interested in his work as well as his personal life. He was a versatile artist, even appearing in films, for example, he appeared in Jean Cocteau's film The Testament of Orpheus.
Every time Picasso appeared in a film, he played himself
In 1955 he participated in the film Le Mystère Picasso (The Mystery of Picasso), directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot. Pablo Picasso died on 8 April 1973 in Mougins, France, during a lunch with friends. His last words were "Drink to me, to my health, you know I can't drink anymore." He was buried in the garden of the Chateau de Vauvenargues, in Bouches-du-Rhône. Jacqueline Roque did not allow her children to attend the funeral.
Jan Vojtěch
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