6th arrondissement of Paris

The 6th arrondissement of Paris (VI^e arrondissement) is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as le sixième.

The arrondissement, called Luxembourg in a reference to the seat of the Senate and its garden, is situated on the Rive Gauche of the River Seine. It includes educational institutions such as the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, the École des hautes études en sciences sociales and the Institut de France, as well as Parisian monuments such as the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe, the Pont des Arts, which links the 1st and 6th arrondissements over the Seine, Saint-Germain Abbey and Saint-Sulpice Church.

This central arrondissement, which includes the historic districts of Saint-Germain-des-Prés (surrounding the abbey founded in the 6th century) and Luxembourg (surrounding the Palace and its Gardens), has played a major role throughout Parisian history. It is well known for its café culture and the revolutionary existentialism intellectualism of the authors that lived there, including Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Gertrude Stein, Paul Éluard, Boris Vian, Albert Camus and Françoise Sagan.

The 6th arrondissement is the smallest in Paris in terms of area covered. With its cityscape, intellectual tradition, history, architecture and central location, the arrondissement has long been home to French intelligentsia. It is a major locale for art galleries and fashion stores and is one of Paris's most expensive area and one of France's richest districts in terms of average income. It is part of what is called Paris Ouest (Paris West) alongside the 7th, 8th and 16th arrondissements, as well as the Neuilly-sur-Seine inner suburb.

History

The current 6th arrondissement, dominated by the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés—founded in the 6th century—was the heart of the Catholic Church's power in Paris for centuries, hosting many religious institutions.

In 1612, Queen Marie de Médicis bought an estate in the district and commissioned architect Salomon de Brosse to transform it into the outstanding Luxembourg Palace surrounded by extensive royal gardens. The new Luxembourg Palace turned the neighbourhood into a fashionable district for French nobility.

In the aftermath of the French Revolution, architect Jean-François-Thérèse Chalgrin was commissioned to redesign the Luxembourg Palace in 1800 to make it the seat of the newly-established Sénat conservateur. Nowadays, the grounds around the Luxembourg Palace, known as the Senate Garden (Jardin du Sénat), are open to the public; they have become a prised Parisian garden across from the 5th arrondissement's Panthéon.

Since the 1950s, the arrondissement, with its many higher education institutions, cafés (Café de Flore, Les Deux Magots, La Palette, Café Procope) and publishing houses (Gallimard, Julliard, Grasset) has been the home of much of the major post-war intellectual and literary movements and some of most influential in history such as surrealism, existentialism and modern feminism.

Geography

The land area of the arrondissement is 2.154 km² (0.832 sq. mile, or 532 acres).

Cityscape

Places of interest

Académie Française
Café de Flore
Café Procope
Hôtel de Chimay
Hôtel Lutetia
Institut de France
Jardin du Luxembourg
Latin Quarter (partial)
Les Deux Magots
Medici Fountain
Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Paris
Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe
Polidor
Pont des Arts
Pont Neuf
Pont Saint-Michel
Saint-Denys-du-Saint-Sacrement (Neoclassical church)
Saint-Germain-des-Prés (church)
Saint-Germain-des-Prés quarter
Saint-Sulpice church

Senate (Luxembourg Palace)
Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier

Museums

Fondation Jean Dubuffet
Maison d'Auguste Comte
Monnaie de Paris
Musée – Librairie du Compagnonnage
Musée d'Anatomie Delmas-Orfila-Rouvière
Musée de Minéralogie
Musée Edouard Branly
Musée Hébert
Musée Zadkine

Colleges and universities

Université Paris Cité (Saints-Pères campus)
Pantheon-Assas University (main campus)
Catholic University of Paris (main campus)
Lycée Stanislas
École des hautes études en sciences sociales
École nationale des ponts et chaussées
École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts (PSL University)
École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris (PSL University)
Lycée Fénelon
Lycée Montaigne
Lycée Saint-Louis

Former places

Arcade du Pont-Neuf
Cherche-Midi prison
Couvent des Cordeliers
Comédie-Française
Hôtel de Bourbon-Condé
Hôtel de Condé

Main streets and squares

Demography

The arrondissement attained its peak population in 1911 when the population density reached nearly 50,000 inhabitants per km². In 2009, the population was 43,143 inhabitants while the arrondissement provided 43,691 jobs.

Economy

Toei Animation Europe has its head office in the arrondissement. The company, which opened in 2004, serves France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Real estate

The 6th and 7th arrondissements are the most expensive districts of Paris, the most expensive parts of the 6th arrondissement being Saint-Germain-des-Prés quarter, the riverside districts and the areas nearby the Luxembourg Garden.