Butte aux cailles

The Butte-aux-Cailles rises as a sixty-three-meter hill in the thirteenth arrondissement, distinct for its low houses and narrow, winding cobblestone streets that escaped the grand, uniform renovations of Baron Haussmann. While its name suggests a connection to quails, it actually originates from Pierre Caille, a winegrower who owned a vineyard on this hillside in fifteen forty-three. Because the ground beneath the hill is crisscrossed with old limestone quarries, the area could not support the heavy stone apartment blocks seen elsewhere in Paris, which preserved its village-like character.