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La Cour Damoye was built on the lands of the "grand bastion Saint-Antoine," in a part of the old Bastille fortress. In 1780, the old King's archers barracks were purchased by Nicholas Damoye, administrator of the City, who rescued the doors, the windows and the chimneys. Since then, the alley has been called either "Passage Daval" or "Cour Damoye." "La Cour Damoye" was occupied by scrap merchants and other "auvergnats" or ragmen until 1816, when it was purchased by a family that owned it until recently. In 1914, this was the place where cart wheels were repaired. The skilled eye of the photographer Atget captured this working atmosphere—the street lamps, the stored cart wheels on the paving stone, the ladders, and some workshops on the ground floor. There was also a coffee roasting shop and a restaurant. This was a small village where people used to live in harmony, and to this day retains a village-like atmosphere. The architect Didier Drummond, who designed the renovation of "La Cour Damoye" in the late 1990's, also restored the pedestrian area called "Montorgueil-Saint-Denis." |
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Plaque at Entrance |
Private Pedestrian Passage |
Passage Entrance |
Entrance Courtyard |
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Cobblestones |
Toward Place de la Bastille |
Entrance onto Place de la Bastille |
Ceramic Shop |
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Shop Front |
Art Studio |
Toward Rue Daval |
Local Business |
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Coffee Roastery and Tea Shop |
Locally Roasted Coffee |
Specialty Teas |
Friendly Service |
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Coffee Break on Cour Damoye |
Frame Shop . . . |
. . . and Art Gallery |
Faces of Cour Damoye |
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Rainy Day on Cour Damoye |
Back Gate from Rue Daval |
Historic Cour Damoye |
