Rue de l'Abbé-de-L'Épée

The Rue de l'Abbé-de-l'Épée runs east to west through the Val-de-Grâce neighborhood in Paris's 5th arrondissement. It connects the Rue Gay-Lussac with the Place Louis-Marin and crosses the famous Rue Saint-Jacques along the way. The street was named in 1846 in honor of Abbé Charles-Michel de l'Épée, founder of the National Institute for Deaf Youth, whose building stands directly on the street. Historically, the first section dates back to the 16th century and went by various names before receiving its current one. Later urban expansion in the 19th century shaped the street as it looks today, and one section was subsequently renamed Rue Auguste-Comte.

For visitors, the street offers a fascinating blend of literary and architectural history. The Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke lived at No. 3 in 1902. The photographer Helmut Newton and his wife June also made their home here from 1977 to 1981. Archaeological finds underscore the long history of the site: excavations uncovered Gallo-Roman wall paintings from the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries, as well as coin hoards from the 3rd century A.D. These fragments, which include a depiction of a handshake, have been restored and form part of the neighborhood's cultural heritage.

The street also recalls important moments in French history. A plaque at No. 12 marks the headquarters of Colonel Fabien during the Liberation of Paris in August 1944. Another plaque near the Church of Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas marks the location of Colonel Rol-Tanguy's command post at the same time. The building of the Institute for Deaf Youth, which stands at the corner of the Rue Saint-Jacques, also served for decades as an exam site for students of the Lycée Henri IV preparing for admission to the École Normale Supérieure.