For 81 years, the theatre on this street hosted premières by Racine and Molière. At the time was street was known as rue des Fossés-St-Germain. In 1770, the theatre group moved to the Palais des Tuileries before taking possession of the Odéon; the street changed its name accordingly. At n° 13, Le Procope, founded in 1686, is the oldest café in Paris, and was the haunt of literary figures such as La Fontaine, Voltaire, Daudet, Oscar Wilde and Verlaine.