Rue Bonaparte
Rue Bonaparte is a street in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It spans the Quai Voltaire/Quai Malaquais to the Jardin du Luxembourg, crossing the Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the place Saint-Sulpice and has housed many of France's most famous names and institutions as well as other well-known figures from abroad. The street runs through the heart of the fashionable Left Bank and is characterised by a number of 'hôtels particuliers' (grand townhouses) and elegant apartment buildings as well as being bounded by the river at one end and the park at the  other. With fifteen buildings or monuments classified as "Monument Historique", it has more such listed sites than any other street in the 6th arrondissement. Rue Bonaparte also has many literary associations and contains a number of bookshops, antiquarian booksellers, publishers and art galleries. Its architecture and location have made it one of Paris' most historic and sought-after residential addresses. History. The length of the street was formerly the site of a river called "La Noue", which at the time formed the eastern boundary of the "Pré-aux-Clercs" (an area of land belonging to the Abbey of Saint-Germain -des-Prés). Later, the river was enlarged into a 27-m wide canal and named "Petite Seine" ('Little Seine'), which in turn supplied water to the moat of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés when its fortifications were built during the 14th century. In the 17th century, those fortifications were demolished along with the moat and the canal. At one time, it was divided into two streets - the "rue du Pot de Fer dite du Verger" and the "rue des Petits Augustins" (also known variously in the late 16th century as the "rue Bouyn", "Petite rue de Seine", "Rue  de la Petite Seine" and the "Chemin de la Noue"). Its present form was established by government decree on 7 September 1845, which resulted in the opening of the part of the street between the Boulevard Saint-Germain and the "rue du Vieux-Colombier". Its name was subsequently changed on 12 August 1852 to commemorate the Emperor Napoleon I. The name 'Rue Bonaparte' was first proposed during the period of The Consulate; it was formally renamed ""Saint-Germain-des-Prés"" under the Bourbon Restoration, and then officially regained the name of ""Bonaparte"" a few months after the coup of Louis  Napoleon Bonaparte, in August 1852. Composition. In its present form it has subsumed the following historic streets: Landmarks. The rue Bonaparte itself contains some of Paris' notable landmarks, including: