Le Petit Barri

The Petit Barri District

Le Petit Barri is located near the former southern gate of the old walled town.

Triangular in shape, the district lies behind the roads to Masseret and La Porcherie. It was a working-class neighborhood: its small houses were home mostly to artisans and day laborers.

 

The Place du Petit Barri

 

A large wooden cross topped with a cast-iron Christ once stood in the center of this square. Both the cross and several buildings (houses and workshops) were demolished in the 1940s, giving the square the shape and size it has today.

In the mid-19th century, the residents of Petit Barri, envious of the bustling activity of the fairground market, requested that the pig market be held “in their district”, a request that was accepted.

Thus, the small triangular square hosted a pig market, which later also became a poultry market. Cattle and calves continued to be sold at the fairground, in the “lower town.” Each barri (neighborhood) in Saint-Germain had its own communal oven. The former communal oven of Petit Barri was later converted into a bakery. The original signboard is still visible on the house where the shop once stood.

 

 

Images : 

• The Place du Petit Barri at the end of the 19th century, lined with shops.
• The Place du Petit Barri in the early 20th century, with the cross standing in the middle of the square.

 

Walk back up toward the church, leaving rue du Petit Moulin behind you.