17 rue Pierre Lescot
Two interlaced caducei on the key above the door. Two horns of plenty to the left and right of the transom with marine motifs: anchors, net, ship’s hull, trident.
16 rue du Louvre
A prominent sunflower garland adorns the lintel. The wrought ironwork of the door is highly ornate, featuring a mix of plant and geometric motifs in copper. The Semeuse building, a credit institution of La Samaritaine, was built at the request of Ernest Cognacq Jay. Architect: Frantz Jourdain. 1912
49 rue de Rivoli
Two allegories frame a bull’s-eye window above the door’s pediment. The one on the left carries a torch, while the one on the right holds a cornucopia. Statuary Félix Roubaud. 1856
134 rue de Rivoli
Wheat ears in the spandrels on the left and right above the door.
206 rue de Rivoli
Mixed metalwork with a caduceus on each leaf.
65 boulevard de Sébastopol
Two seated mermaids, leaning against a triangular pediment, hold garlands. In the center of the pediment, a lion’s head in a cartouche surmounts the building number.
2 rue d’Argenteuil
Mascaron above the door depicting the head of Hercules beneath the remains of the Nemean lion.
Other doors of interest:
| 1 rue Gomboust | Door surmounted by a beautiful gilded shell sign. Neatly framed with pilasters adorned with Corinthian capitals. Its twin is located on the other side of the street corner at 42 rue de la Sourdière. |
| 15 rue du Louvre | Twin doors with two Atlantes |
| 28 rue de Richelieu | Very ornemented Indian-style doorframe |
| 37 rue Saint Roch | Rounded door with a pretty woman’s face joli visage de femme |
| 43 rue Saint Honoré | A swan in a medallion, surmounted by a crown of foliage, adorns the center of an entablature simply decorated with a frieze of « d’oves and dard ». Two small consoles finished with fluted half-columns frame the lintel on the left and right. This decoration is the sign Au cygne couronné, one of the oldest signs in Paris. |
| 45 rue Saint Roch | Spectacular porch. Two Atlanteans flank the door: one young, one old. |
| 5 avenue de l’Opéra | Very elaborate wooden door. To the left, geographer cherubs: long view and globe; to the right, artist cherubs with palette and canvas (?); at the top center of the transom, a writer cherub with stele and quill. The door is surmounted by a mascaron featuring Hercules and his Nemean lion skin. Architect Arthur Froelicher. 1877 |
| 58 rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau | A very tall carriage gate featuring two intertwined caducei with horns of plenty set in the door’s rounded arch. The porch is richly decorated, topped by a bull’s-eye window framed by two ornamental features displayed like trophies—a beehive on the left and a skunk on the right. The skunk, a sort of badger, is depicted as a predator of the bees, which are shown as quite agitated around their hive. |
Doors location in the district:
Une journée à Paris 