Cour des miracles

They held "the usual refuge of all those wretches who came to conceal in this corner of Paris, somber, dirty, muddy, and tortuous, their pretended infirmities and their criminal pollution.

He argued that the area had its own language and a subculture of crime and promiscuity: "everyone lived in great licentiousness; no one had faith or law and baptism, marriage and the sacraments were unknown.

Gabriel Nicolas de la Reynie was tasked in 1667 with utilizing the fledgling Prefecture of Police to curb the growth of crime in the areas.

By 1750, a new tactic of improving health and social care became prominent over law enforcement, and as great areas of the slums were demolished they were taken over by fishmongers and blacksmiths.

The last vestiges of the old cours des miracles were eliminated with the redevelopment of the Filles-Dieu site during the French Revolution and Haussmann's renovation of Paris in the 19th century.