If I had to take someone to one neighborhood in Paris to show them what this city is really about, I would take them to the 13th. Not the Marais. Not Montmartre. The 13th.
Why the 13th?
The 13th arrondissement is unlike anywhere else in Paris. It has high-rise buildings — unusual for this city — which means enormous walls available for enormous murals. In the 1990s, city officials and street art organizations started using those walls as canvases. What emerged is the closest thing Paris has to a permanent open-air museum.
The murals here are not stickers or paste-ups. They are building-sized paintings by internationally recognized artists. Shepard Fairey. Seth. C215. And hidden between them, if you know where to look, dozens of Space Invader mosaics.
Place Pinel — Where to Start
Start at Place Pinel. This small square is surrounded by some of the largest murals in Paris. Stand in the center and look in every direction — every wall tells a different story. This is the heart of the 13th street art district.
From here, walk north along Avenue de Choisy and south toward the périphérique. The murals get larger and more experimental as you move away from the center.
Space Invader at the Hospital
One of my favorite pieces in the 13th is a Space Invader mosaic placed on the wall of Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital — one of the oldest and largest hospitals in Europe. The piece depicts Dr. House, the fictional American TV doctor. Invader placed it there deliberately: a medical reference on a hospital wall, in a neighborhood known for its Asian communities who grew up watching American TV.
Most people walk past the hospital every day and never see it.
The Food
The 13th is also Paris’s Chinatown. After two hours of walking murals, stop for a bowl of Vietnamese Pho on Avenue d’Ivry. Then, if you have time, try the Japanese soufflé pancakes at one of the Japanese cafés nearby. The 13th feeds you well.
How to Visit
Take Métro line 7 to Place d’Italie. Walk south. Allow 2 to 3 hours minimum — the district is large and the murals are spread across multiple blocks. Go in the morning for the best light on the south-facing walls.
