Cirque d’Hiver Bouglione, a circus on rue Amelot since 1852

The Cirque d’Hiver on rue Amelot was inaugurated on 11 December 1852 by Prince Louis-Napoleon, who gave it its first name, the Cirque Napoléon. Louis Dejean, already master of the Cirque d’Été on the Champs-Élysées, commissioned the architect Jacques Hittorff: a twenty-sided polygon, forty-two metres across, with bas-reliefs by James Pradier.

The circus was first devoted to equestrian art under the Franconis. On 12 November 1859 Jules Léotard invented the flying trapeze there. From 1861 Jules Pasdeloup held his popular classical concerts in the ring, praised by Berlioz. Seurat painted The Circus there, and Toulouse-Lautrec found inspiration in its rehearsals and shows.

A Pathé cinema in 1907 and Firmin Gémier’s stage in 1920, it returned to the circus in 1923 with the Fratellini. On 28 October 1934 the Bouglione brothers bought it, paying cash in gold coins. Achille Zavatta made his debut there, La Piste aux étoiles began in 1954 and Carol Reed filmed Trapeze there in 1955.

Listed as a historic monument since 1975, the circus seats 1,650, in the 11th arrondissement. Since 1999 the Bouglione family has presented a new traditional circus show every winter; Sandrine and Odette Bouglione have chaired the house since 2021.