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Covered passages of Paris

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The covered passages of Paris (French: Passages couverts de Paris) are an early form of shopping arcade built in Paris, France, primarily during the first half of the 19th century. By 1867, there were approximately 183[1] covered passages in Paris but many were demolished during Haussmann's renovation of Paris. Only 25 survived into the 21st century, all but one are in the arrondissements (municipal districts) on the Right Bank of the Seine.

The common characteristics of the covered passages is that they link at least two streets, have glass ceilings and are: pedestrianised; artificially illuminated at night (initially with gas lamps); privately owned; highly ornamented and decorated; lined with small shops on the ground floor. The passages’ upper floors usually had apartments.[2] Originally, to keep the passages clean, each would have at the entrance an artiste de décrottage (a ‘shoe cleaning artist’).

From a cultural standpoint, the passages have served as centers of social interaction: Alfred de Musset frequented the Galerie Vérot-Dodat when visiting a famous actress.[2] Eugène-Francois Vidocq, the father of criminology and of the French police system, lived in the Galerie Vivienne in 1840.[2] As a child, Louis-Ferdinand Céline lived in the Passage Choiseul.[2] The passages were the subject of Walter Benjamin's incomplete magnum-opus Das Passagen-Werk (Arcades Project) which was posthumously published.

List of currently accessible passages

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The following table lists the covered passages that still exist and remain accessible to the public.

District
Name
Date
Entrance
Hours
Heritage listing
Length
Image
1 Passage des Deux-Pavillons 1820 Mérimée 33m
1 Galerie Véro-Dodat 1826 Monday-Saturday (except public holidays) 0700-2200 Mérimée 80m Galerie Véro-Dodat
2 Passage Ben-Aïad 1826 Closed to the public Mérimée 90m
2 Passage du Bourg-l'Abbé 1828 Monday-Saturday 0700-1900 Mérimée 47m Passage du Bourg-l'Abbé
2 Passage du Caire 1798 Monday-Friday 0700-1800 360m Passage du Caire
2 Passage Choiseul 1829 Mérimée 190m Passage Choiseul
2 Galerie Colbert 1826 Mérimée 83m Galerie Colbert
2 Passage du Grand-Cerf 1825 Monday-Saturday 0800 - 2000 Mérimée 117m Passage du Grand-Cerf
2 Passage des Panoramas 1800 0600-2400 Mérimée 133m Passage des Panoramas
2 Passage du Ponceau 1826 Monday-Friday 8-9 92m Passage du Ponceau
2 Passage des Princes 1860 Monday-Saturday 0800 - 2000 Mérimée 80m Passage des Princes
2 Passage Sainte-Anne 1829 Mérimée 47m Passage Sainte-Ann
2 Galerie Vivienne 1823 0800 - 2000 Mérimée 176m Galerie Vivienne
3 Passage Molière 1791 Mérimée 46m Passage Molière
3 Passage Vendôme 1827
  • Monday-Friday 0700 - 2000
  • Saturday 0800 - 2000
Mérimée 57m Passage Vendôme
6 Cour du Commerce-Saint-André 1776 Mérimée 120m Cour du Commerce-Saint-André
8 Cité Berryer 1745 Mérimée 95m Entrée cité Berryer (ou Village Royal)
8 Arcades du Lido 1926 120m Arcades du Lido
8 Galerie de la Madeleine 1845 Monday-Saturday (except public holidays) 0800-1900 Mérimée 53m Galerie de la Madeleine
8 Passage Puteaux 1839 Monday-Friday 0700 - 2400 29m Passage Puteaux
9 Passage du Havre 1845 115m Passage du Havre
9 Passage Jouffroy 1845 0700 - 2100 Mérimée 140m Passage Jouffroy
9 Passage Verdeau 1847
  • Monday-Friday 0700 - 2100
  • Saturday-Sunday 0700 - 2000
Mérimée 75m Passage Verdeau
10 Passage Brady 1828 Mérimée 216m Passage Brady
10 Passage du Prado 1830 0900 - 1900 120m Passage du Prado

Further reading

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  • New Paris Guide, Or Stranger's Companion Through the French Metropolis: To which is Added a Description of the Environs. A. and W. Galignani. 1827.Free access icon
  • Lefeuve, Charles (1875). Les anciennes maisons de Paris, Volume 4 (in French). C. Reinwald et cie. street by street, house by houseFree access icon

References

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  1. ^ Joanne, Adolphe Laurent (1867). The Diamond Guide for the Stranger in Paris ... L. Hachette & Company. p. 90.
  2. ^ a b c d "Découvrez la magie des galeries et passages couverts parisiens". www.paris.fr (in French). Retrieved 2023-08-31.
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