Magic-City

The street now known as Rue Cognacq-Jay sits where the city’s first large-scale amusement park once drew crowds to the Left Bank. Inaugurated in nineteen eleven, Magic-City sprawled across a two-hectare site near the Pont de l’Alma, featuring attractions like scenic railways, water chutes, and human roulette wheels. It was the brainchild of Ernest Cognacq, the founder of the Samaritaine department store, and for over a decade, it served as a primary destination for Parisians seeking sensation and novelty.