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Thecovered passages of Paris (French:Passages couverts de Paris) are an early form ofshopping arcade built inParis, 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 duringHaussmann's renovation of Paris. Only 25 survived into the 21st century, all but one are in thearrondissements (municipal districts) on theRight Bank of the Seine.
The common characteristics of the covered passages is that they link at least two streets, have glass ceilings and arepedestrianised, artificially illuminated at night (initially withgas lamps), privately owned, highly ornamented and decorated, and lined with small shops on the ground floor. The passages’ upper floors usually had apartments.[2] Originally, to keep thepassages clean, each would have at the entrance anartiste de décrottage (a ‘shoe cleaning artist’).
From a cultural standpoint, thepassages have served as centers of social interaction:Alfred de Musset frequented theGalerie Vérot-Dodat when visiting a famous actress.[2]Eugène-Francois Vidocq, the father of criminology and of the French police system, lived in theGalerie Vivienne in 1840.[2] As a child,Louis-Ferdinand Céline lived in thePassage Choiseul.[2] Thepassageswere the subject of Walter Benjamin's incomplete magnum-opusDas Passagen-Werk (Arcades Project) which was posthumously published.
They should be distinguished from other Parisian roads also calledpassages but whose route runs in the open air.
The following table lists the covered passages that still exist and remain accessible to the public.
street by street, house by house
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