Moulin Rouge
The red windmill that birthed the modern can-can, still turning over Place Blanche since 1889.
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Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller opened it on 6 October 1889; it became the birthplace of the modern can-can and the subject of Toulouse-Lautrec's La Goulue posters. The Belle Epoque revue tradition lives on in the 850-seat hall's "Feerie," running since 1999.
What to look for
- The rooftop's red windmill and blades — they collapsed onto the street on 25 April 2024 and were restored by 5 July 2024, ahead of the Olympic torch relay.
- The corner site: 82 Boulevard de Clichy on Place Blanche, where Rue Blanche dead-ends into the square.
- Inside, the Belle Epoque interior envisioned by Jo France and executed by Henri Mahe, still intact.
Today's building is a 1925 rebuild after fire destroyed the original on 27 February 1915 — so you're photographing the reconstruction, not the 1889 building.
Moulin Rouge is one of 33 sights worth the detour in Paris, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Paris pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Paris
- Eiffel TowerThe 300-metre iron tower Parisian artists petitioned against before it was even finished.
- Louvre MuseumThe world's most-visited museum lives inside a 12th-century fortress that became a royal palace.
- Notre-Dame de ParisThe spire fell on live TV in April 2019; since December 2024 you can walk back inside.
- Musée d'OrsayVan Gogh and Monet hung inside a Beaux-Arts station built for the Paris–Orléans railway.
- Champs-ÉlyséesA single 1.9-km straight line runs from the Concorde obelisk to the Arc de Triomphe — Paris's ceremonial spine on the Axe historique.
- Place de la BastilleThe prison that lit a revolution is gone — and the mob that stormed it on 14 July 1789 came for gunpowder, not the seven forgotten men inside.