Before it was annexed to Paris in 1860 (Thiers’ enceinte), the area of the current arrondissement covered 3 villages: Montmartre, Clignancourt and La Chapelle. The hamlet of Clignancourt, located on the northern slopes of the Montmartre hillock and extending as far as Saint-Ouen, was built around vineyards, cereal fields and cherry orchards. The history of the commune of Montmartre seems to date back to the 6th century, when the church of Saint-Pierre de Montmartre was built. In the 12th century, Louis VI extended the territory of the seigneury to include the north of the current 9th arrondissement (rue Saint Lazare) and part of the current Batignolles arrondissement to the west. In the 16th century, it was a modest hamlet with around forty houses. It was in the 17th century that many ‘guinguettes’ (dance halls) were established.
When Montmartre was cut in two by the Fermiers Généraux wall in 1790 (the part of the present 9th arrondissement was attached to Paris), the commune split into 2 independent centers: the village of Montmartre on the hilltop and the village of Clignancourt on the northern plain. The Paris Commune revolt of 1871 began in Montmartre. After the defeat of 1871, the construction of the Basilica of the Sacré-Coeur sought to restore faith and hope to Parisians by adding symbolic significance. The hillock attracted many artists, including writers, painters, musicians and songwriters, and the village of La Chapelle dates back to the Middle Ages, on the site of the present-day rue de la Chapelle. A chapel dedicated to Sainte-Geneviève was built and the village then became a parish of the seigneury of Saint-Denis.
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