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Number 2 of 20 in Paris

Le Procope

A Sicilian opened a coffee house here in 1686. Within a century it was the meeting place of the Enlightenment, and then of the men who made the Revolution.

The dark blue front of Le Procope on the rue de l'Ancienne-Comédie, its balcony planted with flowers.
Jean-Marie Hullot, CC BY-SA 2.0
What it is
Historic restaurant
Opened
1686
Area
Odéon
Nearest museum
Sainte-Chapelle, 550 m

Paris this week

    What Le Procope is known for

    1. The Enlightenment at table

      Voltaire, Rousseau and Diderot were regulars, and Benjamin Franklin when he was in Paris. A generation later so were Robespierre, Danton and Marat.

    2. The rooms

      Two floors of small rooms with red walls, portraits, chandeliers and oval mirrors, restored in 1988 and 1989 to look as they might have in the eighteenth century, with relics of the famous customers on show.

    3. The passage behind

      The back door opens on the Cour du Commerce Saint-André, a cobbled passage of the eighteenth century and one of the prettiest corners of the Left Bank.

    What to know

    • Founded in 1686 by Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, a Sicilian
    • Called the oldest café in Paris, though it was closed for part of its history
    • A restaurant, not a café, since the 1950s

    Where Le Procope is

    Address

    13 rue de l'Ancienne-Comédie
    75006 Paris, France

    Nearest station

    Odéon, on lines 4 and 10

    Museums and sights nearby

    Distances are in a straight line from the restaurant.

    Where coffee came to Paris

    Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli opened his coffee house in 1686. The Comédie-Française moved in across the street three years later, so actors and playwrights came first, then the philosophers, and it became the first literary café in the city.

    The original café closed in 1872. The rooms had other uses for eighty years, and reopened as a restaurant in the 1950s under the old name. So the claim on its wall to be the oldest café in the world is disputed, but nowhere else in Paris has this list of customers.

    Le Procope: common questions

    Where is Le Procope?
    At 13 rue de l'Ancienne-Comédie, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. The nearest station is Odéon, on lines 4 and 10.
    Which museums and sights are near Le Procope?
    Sainte-Chapelle is 550 m away, Louvre Museum is 850 m away, Musée d'Orsay is 1.2 km away. Distances are in a straight line from the restaurant.
    What is Le Procope known for?
    The Enlightenment at table, The rooms, The passage behind. The oldest café in Paris, founded in 1686, where Voltaire, Rousseau and Benjamin Franklin talked and the Revolution was plotted. Now a restaurant, in rooms dressed as the eighteenth century.
    When did Le Procope open?
    In 1686. Founded in 1686 by Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, a Sicilian.

    What visitors say about Le Procope

    Rating from Google

    4.5

    28,968 ratings on Google

    Google's figures as read on 5 October 2026.

    Read every review on Google

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