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Boulevard de la Madeleine

Boulevards in ParisParis road stubsStreets in the 1st arrondissement of ParisStreets in the 8th arrondissement of ParisStreets in the 9th arrondissement of Paris
Boulevard de la Madeleine, Paris, 1890 1900
Boulevard de la Madeleine, Paris, 1890 1900

The Boulevard de la Madeleine is one of the four 'grands boulevards' of Paris, France, a chain of roads running east–west that includes the boulevard de la Madeleine, the boulevard des Capucines, the boulevard des Italiens and the boulevard Montmartre. The boulevard is named after the nearby Église de la Madeleine.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Boulevard de la Madeleine (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Boulevard de la Madeleine
Rue Godot de Mauroy, Paris 9th Arrondissement (Paris)

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Wikipedia: Boulevard de la MadeleineContinue reading on Wikipedia

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Latitude Longitude
N 48.869669444444 ° E 2.3264944444444 °
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Address

Madeleine

Rue Godot de Mauroy
75008 Paris, 9th Arrondissement (Paris)
Ile-de-France, France
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Boulevard de la Madeleine, Paris, 1890 1900
Boulevard de la Madeleine, Paris, 1890 1900
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Madeleine bombing
Madeleine bombing

The Madeleine bombing was a bomb attack carried out on 15 March 1894 by the anarchist militant Désiré Pauwels at the Madeleine church, facing the French National Assembly in Paris. The attack occurred during the latter half of the Era of Attacks (1892–1894) and aimed to strike a symbol of the Catholic Church and one of the principal churches of the Parisian bourgeoisie. Pauwels arrived at the church but detonated his bomb prematurely at the entrance before he could position it. He died shortly afterward from a gunshot wound to the head, possibly self-inflicted as he would have attempted suicide to avoid capture by police. No other casualties or injuries were reported, though the church sustained damage and required restoration. This bombing, along with other attacks during the Era of Attacks, marked an early shift in terrorist strategy: instead of targeting specific individuals, it focused on symbolic locations—in this case, the Madeleine church as a stand-in for a precise human target. This shift became a hallmark of modern terrorism but was poorly understood by contemporary media, which dismissed the attack as a senseless act without grasping its ideological motivations. The French press reacted with disgust and scorn, ignoring Pauwels' courage or resolve. The incident also highlights the growing role of forensic science in criminal investigations. Pauwels’ body was so severely disfigured and mutilated by the explosion that it became unrecognizable, necessitating identification by forensic experts—who successfully confirmed his identity.