During the 19th century, a large number of covered galleries, arcades, passages... were built in Paris, predecessors to today’s shopping centres. I have already posted about some of them (see list below). A few are still missing; today I will talk about two: Passage Puteaux and Passage des Grands Princes.
The first Paris very simple railway station was built in 1837 just north of the present Gare Saint Lazare (see my previous posts and a recent one by Adam – Invisble Paris). Around 1835-40 there were plans that the future bigger Gare Saint Lazare (or Gare de l’Ouest) should be placed much closer to the Madeleine Church. Finally this did not happen and the station was built where it now is, in 1842, ready in its first phase in 1853. It finally got its basically present shape in 1889.
Hoping that the station would be built, as thought for a while, near the Madeleine Church, someone decided to create a gallery or “passage” (ready in 1839) between rue de l’Arcade and rue Pasquier. It became a flop as the station finally never was built where it then was thought. It got the name of Passage Puteaux, Puteaux being one of the destinations from the station. Still today, it’s one of more modest galleries in Paris. It’s only about 30 meters long and not much visited, but it has a certain charm. Over one of the entrances you can since a number of years read: ASSAGEPUTEA X.
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The Passage des Princes (see also top picture) is the most recent of the 19th century galleries; it was ready in 1860, then a very elegant passage, close to the financial district, later “forgotten” during some decades. It got its name from a hotel “Grand Hôtel des Princes et de l’Europe”, which was demolished to build this gallery.
This passage has actually been completely rebuilt, last time in 2002, but maintaining the original architecture. Today it’s completely devoted to the sales of toys. These pictures were taken after Christmas; the decorations are still there, but as you can see it was relatively empty. The days before Christmas, this was not the case (I know, I was there).
The first Paris very simple railway station was built in 1837 just north of the present Gare Saint Lazare (see my previous posts and a recent one by Adam – Invisble Paris). Around 1835-40 there were plans that the future bigger Gare Saint Lazare (or Gare de l’Ouest) should be placed much closer to the Madeleine Church. Finally this did not happen and the station was built where it now is, in 1842, ready in its first phase in 1853. It finally got its basically present shape in 1889.Hoping that the station would be built, as thought for a while, near the Madeleine Church, someone decided to create a gallery or “passage” (ready in 1839) between rue de l’Arcade and rue Pasquier. It became a flop as the station finally never was built where it then was thought. It got the name of Passage Puteaux, Puteaux being one of the destinations from the station. Still today, it’s one of more modest galleries in Paris. It’s only about 30 meters long and not much visited, but it has a certain charm. Over one of the entrances you can since a number of years read: ASSAGEPUTEA X.
.
The Passage des Princes (see also top picture) is the most recent of the 19th century galleries; it was ready in 1860, then a very elegant passage, close to the financial district, later “forgotten” during some decades. It got its name from a hotel “Grand Hôtel des Princes et de l’Europe”, which was demolished to build this gallery.
This passage has actually been completely rebuilt, last time in 2002, but maintaining the original architecture. Today it’s completely devoted to the sales of toys. These pictures were taken after Christmas; the decorations are still there, but as you can see it was relatively empty. The days before Christmas, this was not the case (I know, I was there).
Previous posts about galleries:Galérie Véro Dodat
Passage Jouffroy
Passage Bourg l’Abbée
Passage du Grand Cerf
Passage des Panoramas
Galérie Colbert
Galérie Vivienne
Passage Vendôme
Galérie de la Madeleine
Passage Prado
Passage Brady
Passage des Deux Pavillons
Passage Hulot
Normally, I don't post on Thursdays, but tomorrow I will; it's time for the "Mid-month theme - subways". I will again have a "guest star"!
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