Cour des miracles

Cour des miracles ("court of miracles") was a French term which referred to slum districts of Paris, France where the unemployed migrants from rural areas resided. They held "the usual refuge of all those wretches who came to conceal in this corner of Paris, somber, dirty, muddy, and tortuous, their pretended infirmities and their criminal pollution." The areas grew largely during the reign of Louis XIV (1643–1715) and in Paris were found around the Filles-Dieu convent, Temple Street (Paris), the Cour de la Jussienne (Jussienne Street)), Reuilly Street, Rue St. Jean and Tournelles Street, Échelle Street and between the Cairo Street and Réaumur Street. The latter served as inspiration for Victor Hugo's Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.