Medieval Paris's Hidden Terrors: Plague, Prisons, and the Haussmann Renovation

Prior to the modernization efforts of Emperor Napoleon III and Georges-Eugène Haussmann in the 19th century, Paris was characterized by narrow streets that measured an average of 13 feet in width, many of which dated back to Roman and Merovingian eras. Although King Philip II improved main roads around 1186, the side streets remained in a state of disrepair. By the mid-14th century, the population of Paris exceeded 200,000, extending beyond the Wall of Philip Augustus (1190-1215). The Grand Châtelet, originally a wooden fortress erected in 870 by Charles the Bald, was rebuilt in the 1130s and functioned as both a court and a prison. The bubonic plague claimed approximately 50,000 lives in 1348, while a cholera outbreak in 1832 resulted in 19,000 deaths. Beginning in 1853, Haussmann demolished 20,000 structures to create 102 miles of new avenues.