My name is Oliver Gee and I have a confession. I’m obsessed with great knockers.
I told a friend in Paris about my new obsession and he told me I should go to the red-light district of Pigalle to see more, but it turned out to be a miscommunication.
I meant knockers on doors, you see. And doorknobs. I love them. And Paris has some of the best you will ever see.
With this in mind, I’ve been spending hours strolling around the city specifically looking for the best of the best. The following pictures were mostly taken on the Ile Saint Louis, and in the 5th and 6th arrondissements.
Some are fantastically ornate – others are eye-wateringly beautiful – but all of them caught my attention in some way.
Here are the best ten I’ve found – the creme de la creme – followed by a few collages of 32 more that I really liked.
Hope they knock you out too!
And here are some more worth a look. Let’s start with a gallery of lions (you can click to enlarge).
Some of them you have to look closely to appreciate, like this one with the French word for letters (Lettres).
And some are just intriguing to look at (remember to click to enlarge).
In any case, you’ve got to hand it to the Parisians. They sure know how to decorate a door.
If you liked these pictures about Paris doorways, I’d bet my bottom dollar you’d like my other story about chasse roues, the iron and stone door protecters of Paris. Oh look, there’s one below. And here are 38 more that I spotted in town.
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Great post with a fascinating collection of photos that certainly open up an interesting aspect of Paris!
I have the same passion on door knockers, found some good ones in Italy and USA, never saw Paris ornately like yours, great.
Great pics Oliver and more generally, great blog. Keep up the excellent work.
I miss Paris so much! Great article by the way, I don’t think I paid much attention to these when I lived there so it’s nice to discover new things! 🙂
I love this kind of stuff. The lion photos stood out to me. When I was in Florence, an Italian friend of mine was telling me that the lions there represent power and virility. I noticed that the lions DID look different than the ones in Paris. I thought they were going to bite my face off! Here they’re like pussycats with sad faces.
Anyway, this was a great look into the fascinating little details of Paris. I’ve got a photo of some mermaid door handles in the 7th that you’d probably love.
Wow yes please send me the mermaids!!!!! I image they’re tougher looking than the lions….
These sirènes look RELAXED, even though they’re doing backbends to serve as efficient door handles. I’d be happy to send along. Just let me know where!
Great photos and yes I am obsessed as well…and with the doors in general!!…
Do you remember the building where the door with the lion head and the dog handle was?
This was a long time ago, but I’m fairly sure this one was on Rue du Château d’Eau in the tenth.