Montmartre

Montmartre is a district in the 18th arrondissement of Paris (France) dominated by the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur. Since the 19th century, it has hosted numerous artists such as Picasso and Modigliani and has become a symbol of rural and autonomous life within the megacity itself.

Until 1860, Montmartre was a commune in the department of Seine. That year, under the law extending the capital, the commune was annexed by Paris, with the exception of a small part which was attributed to the commune of Saint-Ouen.

Most of the territory of old Montmartre was thus integrated into what became the 18th arrondissement of Paris, named "des Buttes-Montmartre" and made up of the administrative districts of Grandes-Carrières, Clignancourt, Goutte-d'Or, and La Chapelle. Like the Marais district, Montmartre today has no precise geographical boundaries: it is a "historic" Parisian district rather than an "administrative district", traditionally delimited to the north by Rue Custine, to the west by Rue Caulaincourt, to the south by the Boulevards de Clichy and de Rochechouart, and to the east by Rue de Clignancourt.

Known for its narrow, steep streets flanked by long staircases, this very touristy area in northern Paris is home to the capital's highest point on the Butte Montmartre, one of the gypsum-capped buttes-témoins formed on either side of the Seine and known as the "hills of Paris". At 130.53 metres, the natural ground altitude inside the Calvaire Cemetery, it adjoins the Church of Saint-Pierre de Montmartre, the oldest church in present-day Paris.

It is recognisable by its characteristic white colour, which it owes to its Château-Landon stones, which have the particularity of whitening on contact with water.