Temperatures are beginning to drop and the sun is becoming increasingly shy: unfortunately, we can already say goodbye to summer… But there’s no question of abandoning our bucolic escapades in the capital. Following on from Passage de l’Ancre, Villa Léandre and Square des Peupliers, we now present Cité du Figuier, a lush haven of peace in the heart of the buzzing 11th arrondissement.
Cité du Figuier: a hidden treasure in the 11th arrondissement
If you stroll through the Oberkampf district, you’re more likely to come across lively, bar-filled streets. But beyond its reputation as a party district where glasses clink, there are bucolic corners of paradise, where calm reigns and nature reclaims its rights. Such is the case of the cité du Figuier, certainly one of the best-kept secrets of the Folie Méricourt district…
You’ll have to squeeze in between numbers 104 and 106 rue Oberkampf to admire this lush little haven of peace. In this cobbled alleyway, old workshops coexist with greenery in remarkable harmony. In the 70s, metalworkers gradually left the passage, which was struggling to find a new identity. Threatened, the cité du Figuier, so named because of its huge fig tree, finally found salvation thanks to a new population made up of artists, families and agency workers.
Today, the old workshops have been repainted in bright colors, the flowerbeds lined with plants and flowers, and the whole of the Cité du Figuier pampered until now. The result is a large alley populated by small houses and vegetation, giving the whole area the feel of a small village in the midst of the Parisian hustle and bustle.
The next time you stroll through the 11th arrondissement, make sure you stop off at this authentic open-air paradise!
Cité du Figuier – Access via 104-106 rue d’Oberkampf, 75011