Paris sewers
sewerage system of Paris
Although the Romans built a small number of sewer lines on the Left Bank, the development of the sewers of Paris dates back to the year 1370, when the first underground system was built under Rue Montmartre. Consecutive French governments enlarged the system to cover the city's population, including modernization and expansions under Louis XIV and Napoleon III. These were followed by modernisation programs in the 1990s under Mayor Jacques Chirac. Paris's sewer system has featured in popular culture throughout its existence, including Victor Hugo's 1862 novel, Les Misérables, and H. L. Humes's 1958 novel The Underground City.
Hydrological context
The hydrological context in which Parisians developed their sewer system over the centuries is complex. The ancient system of waterways of the Seine and of local springs resulted in a challenging situation in terms of water volume and circulation (or, more often, water stagnation).
From the Mesolithic period until the Middle Ages, a secondary branch of the Seine cut an uneven semicircle to the north of Paris, starting from what is now the Bercy neighborhood of the eastern 12th arrondissement, then passing approximately through the current Place de la Bastille and the Place de la République, then through the Saint-Lazare train station, before finally joining the main course of the Seine at roughly the site of what is now the Pont de l'Alma (the Alma Bridge).
Though silt and human activity eventually filled in this secondary branch, it nevertheless formed a marshy depression in the northern part of Paris that received runoff from the hills of Belleville, Montmartre, and Roule. This runoff and the numerous natural water sources in the area fed a stream called the Menilmontant brook, which followed the course of the ancient river. This stream rose at the foot of the Ménilmontant hill before emptying into the Seine at current location of the Pont de l’ Alma.
Besides the multitude of watercourses and springs in Paris, the city's topography posed another problem: its lack of slope.
“Paris sewers” enters the record as sewerage system of Paris. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Paris, sewers and sewerage can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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