Montmartre's market in a few words
The last village in Paris
Perched on its hill, Montmartre holds a special place in Paris's geography. Far from the Haussmannian uniformity of the western arrondissements, the neighborhood has kept an irregular urban fabric of cobbled lanes, staircases and small squares, inherited from its past as an independent village annexed to Paris only in the 19th century.
From the late 19th century, this identity attracted a community of artists who shaped its international reputation: Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, then Picasso and Modigliani in the early 20th century. This artistic memory remains alive, from the Clos Montmartre, the last vineyard in Paris, to the artists' studios still active around Place du Tertre.
The property market there is varied: the immediate surroundings of the Sacré-Cœur and Place du Tertre, very touristy, differ markedly from the Village Montmartre around Abbesses and Rue Lepic, a quieter residential area prized for its authenticity. The old buildings, sometimes without lifts because of the slopes, require detailed expertise to identify the truly high-quality properties.
For the same search for authenticity and architectural character, the Marais offers a comparable historic identity, in a more central and less hilly setting.