The Mount Parnassus, home of the Muses in Greek mythology…

In the 1920’s, the neighborhood was at the heart of the intellectual and artistic life in Paris, with its cafés and the famous Kiki, who was the model and the Muse of all the artists who lived there, including Man Ray, Picasso, Apollinaire, Bourdelle, Matisse, Léger, Zadkine, Kisling, Chagall, Jacob, Cendrars, Soutine, Modigliani, Duchamp, Brancusi, Rivera, Fujita, Giacometti, Breton, Dali, Reinhardt, Miro, and others.

In Montparnasse, the studios and the cafés were inexpensive, and it made sociability, emulation and mutual aid easier. The “Montparnos” rapidly established a creative atmosphere because of this.

Cafés and bars, in particular those of the Carrefour Vavin, were meeting places where the artists came to meet their counterparts and negociate.  Le Dôme, La Closerie des Lilas, La Rotonde, Le Sélect and La Coupole allowed starving artists to occupy a table all night for a derisory price.

The Rue de la Gaité was the street of the theaters and of the music hall centered around the famous Bobino. On their stages, the artists, Damia, Kiki, Mayol and Georgius, using only their first names, as was the fashion at the time, sang and performed to full houses. This has not changed with the Théâtre de la Gaîté and the Théâtre Montparnasse, which both present varied programming where all people can find what they want.

The Second World War forced the dispersion of the artistic society. In the 1960s, the neighborhood turned into the quartier d’affaires (business neighborhood) of the left bank of the Seine. Montparnasse has become a neighborhood of offices and of leisure activities during the night, with its numerous cafés, cinemas and restaurants.