Abattoirs de la Villette

Paris - La Belle Époque‎‎

The Abattoirs de la Villette , also called the La Villette Livestock Market , were famous slaughterhouses located in the La Villette district in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. Construction 1864 - 1867
Opening 1867
Closing March 15, 1974

A mecca of Parisian food culture, like Les Halles de Paris , they were in operation from 1867 to 1974 and were then replaced in the 1980s by the Parc de la Villette.

In 1859, the decision was taken to create the slaughterhouses and livestock market at La Villette, intended to replace five large slaughterhouses ( Montmartre , Ménilmontant , Roule on the right bank; Grenelle and Villejuif on the left bank), themselves created by the imperial decree ofFebruary 9, 18101 , and other smaller ones. The livestock market was to take over from those of Poissy and Sceaux 2 . The livestock market was established between the Canal de l'Ourcq , the Route d'Allemagne (currently Avenue Jean-Jaurès ) and the fortifications of Paris . The slaughterhouses were built on the other side of the canal, between the fortifications, the Canal Saint-Denis and the Rue de Flandre (currently Avenue Corentin-Cariou ).

This choice made it possible to move these new slaughterhouses away from the city centre. Work began in 1864 and was completed in 1867. Most of the buildings were the work of the architect Jules de Mérindol (1815-1888), a student of Victor Baltard , assisted by Louis-Adolphe Janvier.

The establishment is served by two stations located on a branch of the Petite Ceinture line  : the Paris-Bestiaux station , south of the Canal de l'Ourcq , at the livestock market, and the Paris-Abattoirs station , north of the canal, at the slaughterhouses themselves. The whole complex, slaughterhouses, market and stations, then occupies 39 hectares.

In 1900, the Concours général agricole was organized at La Villette. On this occasion, the Promenade du Bœuf Gras was organized , which had not taken place since 1897 and which is also the Parisian Butchers' Festival. The March 16, 1902, the Fat Ox parades again at the start and in the district of the Villette slaughterhouses. In 1906, 1907 and 1908, on the occasion of this festival, balloon launches took place from the Place des Abattoirs, at the Villette slaughterhouses. In 1907, two Fat Ox parade on two different dates: first, theFebruary 10, Vaugirard I er , Fat Beef from the Left Bank from the Vaugirard 5 slaughterhouses — today replaced by the Georges-Brassens park , they were then the other large Parisian slaughterhouses after those of La Villette — then, theApril 14, Givrillot, 1,750 kilos, Fat Beef from the Right Bank from the Villette 6 slaughterhouses .

On April 21, 1918 , during the First World War , a shell launched by the " Gross Bertha " exploded in the slaughterhouses of La Villette