North–South Street
Rue Saint Louis
Named after: Saint Louis (Louis IX of France) (1214–1270)
Welcome to Rue Saint Louis, named after King Louis IX of France, who died on Crusade in 1270 and became a saint in 1297. He never came anywhere near India. His name is here because French colonial cities everywhere carried Catholic royal dedications in their street grids, their forts, and their churches. The Pondicherry Museum is on this street.
You are walking on a street named after a medieval king who died in Tunis, crusading, seven centuries ago. Saint Louis, Louis IX of France, is the patron saint of the French royal house, and his name travelled wherever France went. Streets, hospitals, forts, churches: Saint-Louis is one of the most repeated French place names in the world, from Senegal to Louisiana to this street in Tamil Nadu.
Fort Saint-Louis was François Martin's original fortification on this site. That fort no longer exists, razed by the British in 1761. The name survived in the street grid. In a city where every other street name commemorates a specific person with a specific connection to French India, this one commemorates an idea: that France's presence here was part of a longer Catholic royal history reaching back to the Crusades.
The Pondicherry Museum is on this street today, in a repurposed colonial administrative building. Its collection includes some of the finest Chola and Pallava bronzes in South India, Roman pottery from Arikamedu, and Franco-Tamil furniture from the White Town's domestic interiors. A medieval French saint on the outside. Two thousand years of Indian history on the inside.
Notable on this street
- The Pondicherry Museum is at the top of this street. Entry ₹10. Allow 90 minutes. The bronze gallery alone is worth it.
- Fort Saint-Louis, the original French fortification built by François Martin, stood near this site. The British demolished it in 1761. The name stayed in the street.
- Saint Louis died in Tunis in 1270 on his second Crusade. He never reached his destination. His name is on a street in India. History has a sense of humour.
- Look at the street signs: French above, Tamil below. Saint Louis in Tamil phonetics. The king who wanted Jerusalem ended up in Pondicherry.
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