In the reign of Louis XVI, the fermiers généraux responsible for tax collection proposed a grand architectural project: a 24-kilometer-long wall encircling Paris with 55 entry points to levy taxes on goods—a monumental undertaking during the Ancien Régime. Architect Claude-Nicolas Ledoux (1743-1794) was commissioned to design the project, known as the "Barrière d’Enfer" or "Gate of Hell." In 1785, Ledoux envisioned two symmetrical rectangular pavilions facing each other along the Route d’Orléans, inspired by the propylaea of Ancient Greece—monumental gateways at sanctuary entrances.
Each pavilion featured four levels: ground floor, mezzanine, first floor, and attic. On the main façade, a central staircase led to a porch with three arcades supported by Tuscan columns, featuring cylindrical, plain, and cubic drums. These columns extended into protruding bosses on the ground floor. The central arcade included a Venetian window—a central bay topped by a semicircular arch flanked by two side arches with a lintel. The sculpted frieze, crafted by Jean-Guillaume Moitte (1746-1810), depicted women in Antique attire holding medallions bearing coats of arms from cities associated with the Barrière d’Enfer. The pavilions were crowned with slate roofs.
Symbolizing royal authority and unpopular taxes, the barriers became early targets of revolutionary unrest in July 1789. The Barrière d’Enfer was looted and set ablaze on July 13. By January 1790, it was repaired and renamed the Barrière Égalité ("Equality Gate"), serving as a customs checkpoint until taxes at city entrances were abolished in May 1791 and reinstated in October 1798. Subsequent modifications altered the grillwork along the Route d’Orléans and repurposed the pavilions. In the 1820s, the east pavilion was converted into barracks for the municipal guard and departmental police, while the west pavilion ceased housing octroi employees.
In the 1840s, zinc replaced the slate roofing. Paris expanded in 1860 with annexation of surrounding suburbs, prompting demolition of Ledoux's perimeter wall to make way for a circular boulevard. In 1867, the City of Paris repurposed the west pavilion for its Department of Public Roads and later added a materials testing laboratory. The east pavilion housed the Paris guard until 1888, when it was taken over by the Quarry Service. A square was established in 1887.
Following efforts by the Commission du Vieux-Paris to preserve historical landmarks, including the Barrière d’Enfer and other remaining barriers like the rotundas of La Villette and Parc Monceau, these structures were classified as historical monuments by decree on April 13, 1907.
The first evacuations took place from 1785 to 1787, involving the Saints-Innocents cemetery, the largest in Paris, which had closed in 1780 after nearly ten centuries of use. To avoid public and ecclesiastical backlash, the bones were transported at night and deposited into quarry wells before being arranged in the galleries by quarry workers. Transfers continued until 1814, post-French Revolution, as parochial cemeteries like Saint-Eustache, Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs, and the Bernardins Convent were closed. They resumed in 1840 during Louis-Philippe’s urban renovation and the Haussmannian redesign of the city from 1859 to 1860.