Paris Covered Passages: A Guide to the City's Historic Glass-Roofed Galleries
Paris once boasted numerous covered passages, yet only a handful survive today. These glass-roofed arcades originated in the early 19th century, serving the bourgeois class. By the 1820s, competition intensified among various galleries, including Passage du Caire and Galerie Vivienne, which was established in 1823 and has been a listed monument since 1974, showcasing a 176-meter glass roof. Opened in 1827, Galerie Colbert features a rotunda and dome that inspired Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. The oldest passage is Passage des Panoramas, dating back to 1799, while Passage du Caire holds the title for the longest at 370 meters. Other significant passages include Passage du Grand-Cerf (1825), Passage des Princes (1860), and Galerie de la Madeleine (1846).
Key facts
- Galerie Vivienne was built in 1823 by François-Jacques Delannoy and has a 176-meter-long glass roof.
- Galerie Colbert opened in 1827, designed by Jean Billaud, and its 17-meter-diameter dome inspired Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.
- Galerie Véro-Dodat opened in 1826 and Christian Louboutin installed his historic boutique there in 1991.
- Passage des Panoramas, built in 1799, is the oldest covered passage in Paris and among the first in Europe.
- Passage du Caire is the longest at 370 meters and is named after the Egyptomania of Napoleon's campaign (1798–1801).
- Passage du Grand-Cerf has a nearly 12-meter-high glass roof and was nicknamed 'Bitcoin Boulevard' in 2016.
- Passage des Princes, built in 1860, was the last 19th-century covered passage in Paris; it was destroyed in 1985, rebuilt ten years later, and is currently closed to the public.
- Passage des Deux-Pavillons, created in 1820, is the smallest at 33 meters long and 2 meters wide.
Entities
Artists
- François-Jacques Delannoy
- Jean Billaud
- Louis Le Vau
- Charles-François Nanteuil-Leboeuf
- Robert Fulton
- Pierre Prévost
- Émile Zola
- Honoré Daumier
- Christian Louboutin
- Théodore Charpentier
- Napoleon
Institutions
- BnF Richelieu
- Palais-Royal
- Académie des beaux-arts
- Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert
- Institut national d'histoire de l'art
- Institut national du patrimoine
- Messageries Laffitte et Gaillard
- Aubert
- Le Charivari
- La Caricature
- JouéClub
- Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
Locations
- Paris
- France
- Brussels
- Belgium
- Milan
- Italy
- Egypt
- Galerie Vivienne
- Galerie Colbert
- Galerie Véro-Dodat
- Passage des Panoramas
- Passage du Caire
- Passage du Grand-Cerf
- Passage des Princes
- Passage des Deux-Pavillons
- Galerie de la Madeleine
- Palais-Royal
- rue des Petits-Champs
- rue de la Banque
- rue Vivienne
- passage Colbert
- rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- rue du Bouloi
- rue Saint-Marc
- boulevard Montmartre
- place du Caire
- rue du Caire
- rue Saint-Denis
- rue Dussoubs
- boulevard des Italiens
- rue de Richelieu
- rue de Beaujolais
- place de la Madeleine
- rue Boissy d'Anglas