Which Parisian café was a popular gathering spot for Enlightenment philosophers?

Café Procope was the Parisian café that became a popular gathering spot for Enlightenment philosophers. Established in 1686 by the Sicilian entrepreneur Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, it helped make coffeehouse culture fashionable in Paris.

Located on what is now Rue de l’Ancienne Comédie, the café attracted writers, actors, political thinkers, and scientists. Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were associated with it, while Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert are traditionally linked to conversations there about the Encyclopédie. The café’s location opposite the Comédie-Française also helped it draw a lively literary and theatrical crowd.

Café Procope was more than a place to drink coffee: cafés offered relatively informal spaces where people could exchange news, debate philosophy, and discuss politics. A common mix-up is calling it the world’s oldest continuously operating café. The original establishment closed in 1872; the present restaurant occupies the historic site but is not an uninterrupted continuation.