[An illustration of a ship, symbolizing the symbol of Paris]

Histoire de Paris

Hôtel de la Païva
Le quartier Saint Georges fut loti de 1821 à 1824 par une société financière présidée par M. Dosne, futur beau-père de Thiers. La fontaine centrale de la place date de 1824, elle servit d’abreuvoir à chevaux, fut tarie en 1906 par la construction du metro Nord-Sud et remise en eau le 10 mai 1995. Le buste de Gavarni, paintre des "lorettes", surmonte la fontaine depuis 1911, il est l’oeuvre de Puech et Guillaume C’est en 1840 que l’architecte Renaud construisit cet immeuble dans un style gothique et renaissance. Thérèse Lachmann, demi-mondaine en vue qui venait d’épouser le marquis Païva y Arunjo, vint y habiter en 1851; puis elle fit construire un nouvel hôtel aux Champs- Elysées. Elle devint une courtisane adulée sous le second Empire, sous le nom de "La Païva".

[Illustration of the place]

One of the series of signs describing historical places in Paris. The signs were placed starting in 1992 and are also called sucettes Starck (Starck’s Lollipops) after Philippe Starck who designed them.

The sign depicts the Hôtel de la Païva and the square and fountain adjacent to it.

The place was photographed on the same day Click for a larger image

The illustration in the center of the sign is shown here at magnification Click for a larger image

The statue of the French painter, illustrator and caricaturist Paul Gavarni (1804-1866) that stands at the top of the pillar in the center of the fountain and was made by Denys Puech appears here in an enlarged Click for a larger image

Translation of the text on the sign:

[An illustration of a ship, symbolizing the symbol of Paris]

History of Paris

Hôtel de la Païva
The Saint Georges district was subdivided from 1821 to 1824 by a financial company chaired by Mr. Dosne, Thiers’ future father-in-law. The central fountain of the square dates from 1824, it served as a horse watering trough, was dried up in 1906 by the construction of the North-South metro and refilled with water on May 10, 1995. The bust of Gavarni, painter of the "lorettes", has topped the fountain since 1911, it is the work of Puech and Guillaume. It was in 1840 that the architect Renaud built this building in a Gothic and Renaissance style. Thérèse Lachmann, a prominent demi-socialite who had just married the Marquis Païva y Arunjo, came to live there in 1851; then she had a new hotel built on the Champs-Elysées. She became an adored courtesan under the Second Empire, under the name “La Païva”.

[Illustration of the place]