Covered passages of Paris


The covered passages of 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 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 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, privately owned, highly ornamented and decorated, and lined with small shops on the ground floor. The passages’ upper floors usually had apartments. Originally, to keep the passages clean, each would have at the entrance an artiste de décrottage.
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. Eugène-Francois Vidocq, the father of criminology and of the French police system, lived in the Galerie Vivienne in 1840. As a child, Louis-Ferdinand Céline lived in the Passage Choiseul. The passages were the subject of Walter Benjamin's incomplete magnum-opus Das Passagen-Werk which was posthumously published.
They should be distinguished from other Parisian roads also called passages but whose route runs in the open air.

List of currently accessible passages

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
11820
33m
11826
  • 19 rue Jean-Jacques-Rousseau
  • 2 rue du Bouloi
  • Monday-Saturday 0700-220080m
    21826
  • 9-11 rue Léopold-Bellan
  • 8 rue Bachaumont
  • Closed to the public90m
    21828
  • 120 rue Saint-Denis
  • 3 rue de Palestro
  • Monday-Saturday 0700-190047m
    21798
  • 33 rue d'Alexandrie
  • 2 place du Caire
  • 237-239 rue Saint-Denis
  • 14, 34 et 44 rue du Caire
  • Monday-Friday 0700-1800360m
    21829
  • 40 rue des Petits-Champs
  • 23 rue Saint-Augustin
  • 40 rue Dalayrac
  • Passage Sainte-Anne
  • 190m
    21826
  • 6 rue des Petits-Champs
  • 2 rue Vivienne
  • 83m
    21825
  • 145 rue Saint-Denis
  • 10 rue Dussoubs
  • Monday-Saturday 0800 - 2000117m
    21800
  • 10 rue Saint-Marc
  • 11 boulevard Montmartre
  • 38 rue Vivienne
  • 151 rue Montmartre
  • 0600-2400133m
    21826
  • 119 boulevard de Sébastopol
  • 212 rue Saint-Denis
  • Monday-Friday 8-992m
    21860
  • 5 boulevard des Italiens
  • 97-99 rue de Richelieu
  • Monday-Saturday 0800 - 200080m
    21829
  • 59-61 rue Sainte-Anne
  • Passage Choiseul
  • 47m
    21823
  • 4 rue des Petits-Champs
  • 6 rue Vivienne
  • 5 rue de la Banque
  • 0800 - 2000176m
    31791
  • 82 rue Quincampoix
  • 157, 159, 161 rue Saint-Martin
  • 46m
    31827
  • 16 rue Béranger
  • 3 place de la République
  • Monday-Friday 0700 - 2000
  • Saturday 0800 - 2000
  • 57m
    61776
  • 59 rue Saint-André-des-Arts
  • 21 rue de l'Ancienne-Comédie
  • 130 boulevard Saint-Germain
  • 120m
    81745
  • 24 rue Boissy-d'Anglas
  • 24 rue Royale
  • 95m
    81926
  • 76-78 avenue des Champs-Élysées
  • 59 rue de Ponthieu
  • 120m
    81845
  • 9 place de la Madeleine
  • 30 rue Boissy-d'Anglas
  • Monday-Saturday 0800-190053m
    81839
  • 33 rue de l'Arcade
  • 28 rue Pasquier
  • Monday-Friday 0700 - 240029m
    91845
  • 69 rue de Caumartin
  • 109 rue Saint-Lazare
  • 115m
    91845
  • 10-12 boulevard Montmartre
  • 9 rue de la Grange-Batelière
  • 0700 - 2100140m
    91847
  • 6 rue de la Grange-Batelière
  • 31 bis rue du Faubourg-Montmartre
  • Monday-Friday 0700 - 2100
  • Saturday-Sunday 0700 - 2000
  • 75m
    101828
  • 43 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Martin
  • 22 boulevard de Strasbourg
  • 33 boulevard de Strasbourg
  • 46 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis
  • 216m
    101830
  • 16
  • 16 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis
  • 0900 - 1900120m