The Moulin de la Galette () is a windmill and associated businesses situated near the top of the district of Montmartre in Paris. The windmill was built in 1622. In the 19th century, the Debray family who were the owners and millers made a brown bread galette, which became popular and was adopted as the name of the windmill and its businesses, which have included a famous guinguette and restaurant. In the 19th century, Le Moulin de la Galette represented diversion for Parisians seeking entertainment, a glass of wine and bread made from flour ground by the windmill. Artists such as Renoir, van Gogh, Ramón Casas and Pissarro have immortalized Le Moulin de la Galette, probably the most famous example being Renoir's festive painting, Bal du moulin de la Galette.
Windmill
thumb|left|upright|The present day Moulin de la Galette restaurant topped by the original Moulin Radet.
The windmill Moulin de la Galette, also known as Blute-fin, was built in 1622. The name Blute-fin comes from the French verb bluter which means sifting flour for the separation from bran.
The Debray family acquired the two mills in 1809 for producing flour, the Blute-fin and the Radet, built in 1717. But it was also used to pressurize the harvest or grind materials needed for manufacturing.
An association Friends of Old Montmartre saved it from destruction in 1915. In 1924, its owner moved the windmill to the corner of Girardon and Lepic streets. It was restored in 1978, but is not running. The windmill has been classified as a monument since 1958.
Sieges in 1814 and 1870
At the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1814, during the siege of Paris three Debray men died defending the windmill against Cossacks; the miller was killed and nailed to the wings of the windmill.
Commercial expansion
The mill was turned into a by the surviving son of the miller killed during the siege of Paris in 1814.
thumb|[[Auguste Renoir, Bal du moulin de la Galette 1876]]
The current name Moulin de la Galette is based upon galette, a small brown bread that the Debray millers, who owned the mill in the 19th century, made and sold with a glass of milk. The bread became so popular that it later became the name of the windmill. Parisians made their way to Montmartre to enjoy "the simple pleasures" of the countryside with a glass of wine, freshly baked bread and a terrace view of Paris and the Seine below. In 1833, one of the Debrays decided to open an area for dancing, dedicated to the Greek muse Terpsichore. His flair for dancing and enthusiasm attracted patrons to the dancing hall and it became a success.
Author Émile Zola wrote in 1876, "We rushed off into the countryside to celebrate the joy of not having to listen to any more talk about politics," which often meant reflection of France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. Montmartre, attainable by a train ride or a one-hour walk, was still a village with orchards, shops and two remaining windmills. Paul François Quinsac, Kees van Dongen and Maurice Utrillo.
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File:Vincent Willem van Gogh 066.jpg|Vincent van Gogh, Le Moulin de la Galette 1886
File:Vincent van Gogh - Windmills on Montmartre - Google Art Project.jpg|Le Moulin de Blute-Fin (1886) from the Le Moulin de la Galette and Montmartre series'
File:Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 025.jpg|Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Au bal du moulin de la Galette 1889
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