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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The building at 8 rue des Moulins, in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, is an iconic 18th-century building. Ranked a Historic Monument, it is distinguished by its facade on street and roof, protected by ministerial decree in 1964. This building embodies the Parisian civil architecture of the Enlightenment era, a period marked by intellectual and urban growth in the French capital.

Philosopher Paul Henri Holbach (1723–89), a major figure in materialism and atheism in the Enlightenment century, lived in this building from 1759 until his death in 1788. His salon, a meeting place for thinkers and writers of the time, was probably organized there. The building thus bears witness to an important part of Parisian intellectual life under the Ancien Régime, although the available sources do not specify any further details of its past occupation or use.

The location of the building, at the exact address of 8 rue des Moulins, is attested by the Merimée and Monumentum bases. However, its geographical accuracy is considered "passable" (note 5/10), without providing finer GPS coordinates. The protected elements are limited to the façade and roof, without any mention of interior fittings or openings to the current public.

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