Boulevards of Paris

Their origin is a plan initiated by Louis XIV's minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert in the late 1660s, of comprehensive reforms and remodeling of Paris.

Aside of the demilitarization of the former city walls and their replacement with a ring of Grands Boulevards, started in 1670,[1]: 126  the plan included the establishment of the Lieutenant général de police [fr] in 1667; the destruction of all gates of the ancient Wall of Philip II Augustus on the left bank, started in 1673 and completed in 1783;[1]: 134  the unification of professional regulations in the city and its outskirts (French: faubourgs in 1673;[1]: 134  the termination of lingering feudal authority over criminal justice in a number of mostly ecclesiastical enclaves that was transferred to the king's Grand Châtelet in 1674;[1]: 134  and the erection or refurbishment of monumental gates on key intersections, namely the Porte Saint-Antoine in 1671, the Porte Saint-Bernard [fr], the Porte Saint-Denis in 1672-1673, the Porte Saint-Martin in 1674, and a massive triumphal arch to be erected on what is now the Place de la Nation, started in the 1670s but abandoned around 1680 and whose unfinished structures were eventually demolished in 1716.

The idea of the boulevard as a centre for leisure asserted itself during the 18th century, when numerous théâtres de la foire set up near the Porte Saint-Martin.

This wall was built to collect the octroi, a tax on goods entering the city which was hated by Parisians.

The demolition of the Thiers wall during the 1920s allowed for the creation of a third ring of boulevards surrounding the city.