The Marais (Le Marais ; "the marsh") is a historic district in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France. Having once been an aristocratic district, it is home to many buildings of historic and architectural importance. It spreads across parts of the

3rd Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and 4th

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements' ...

s in Paris on the

Rive Droite The Rive Droite (, ''Right Bank'') is most commonly associated with the river Seine in central Paris. Here, the river flows roughly westwards, cutting the city into two parts. When facing downstream, the northern bank is to the right, and the sou ...

, or Right Bank, of the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

. After a long period of decay the district has undergone a transformation in recent years and is now once again among the more fashionable areas of the city.

History

Paris aristocratic district

In 1240, the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

built a fortified church just outside the walls of Paris, in the northern part of the Marais. The

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

turned this district into an attractive area which became known as the Temple Quarter, and many religious institutions were built nearby: the

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

s des Blancs-Manteaux, de Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie and des Carmes-Billettes, as well as the church of Sainte-Catherine-du-Val-des-Écoliers. During the mid-13th century, Charles I of Anjou, King of Naples and Sicily, and brother of King

Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the ...

built his residence near the current n°7 rue de Sévigné. In 1361 the King

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infan ...

built a mansion known as the

Hôtel Saint-Pol The Hôtel Saint-Pol was a royal residence begun in 1360 by Charles V of France on the ruins of a building constructed by Louis IX. It was used by Charles V and Charles VI. Located on the Right Bank, to the northwest of the Quartier de l'Arsenal ...

, in which the

Royal Court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...

settled during his reign as well as his son's. From that time to the 17th century and especially after the Royal Square (''Place Royale'', current ''

place des Vosges The Place des Vosges (), originally Place Royale, is the oldest planned square in Paris, France. It is located in the ''Marais'' district, and it straddles the dividing-line between the 3rd and 4th arrondissements of Paris. It was a fashionabl ...

'') was designed under King

Henri IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

in 1605, the Marais was the favored place of residence for the French nobility. Among the many urban mansions— hôtels particuliers, in French—they built there were the

Hôtel de Sens The Hôtel de Sens () or Hôtel des archevêques de Sens is a 16th-century ''hôtel particulier'', or private mansion, in the Marais, in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. It nowadays houses the . History The ''hôtel'' was built to serve ...

, the

Hôtel de Sully The Hôtel de Sully is a Louis XIII style ''hôtel particulier'', or private mansion, located at 62 rue Saint-Antoine in the Marais, IV arrondissement, Paris, France. Built at the beginning of the 17th century, it is nowadays the seat of the Cen ...

, the

Hôtel de Beauvais The Hôtel de Beauvais is a hôtel particulier, a kind of large townhouse of France, at 68 rue Francois-Miron, 4th arrondissement, Paris. Until 1865 rue Francois-Miron formed part of the historic rue Saint Antoine and as such was part of the cere ...

, the Hôtel Carnavalet, the Hôtel de Guénégaud and the

Hôtel de Soubise The Hôtel de Soubise () is a city mansion '' entre cour et jardin'' (), located at 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris. History The Hôtel de Soubise was built for the Prince and Princess de Soubise on the sit ...

. During the late 18th century, the district was no longer considered the most fashionable district for the nobility, yet it still kept its reputation of being an aristocratic area. By that time, only minor nobles and a few higher ranking nobles, such as the

Prince de Soubise Within the French nobility, the title of "Prince of Soubise" was created in 1667 when the '' sirerie'' of Soubise, Charente-Maritime was raised to a principality for the cadet branch of the House of Rohan. The first prince was François de Rohan (1 ...

, lived there. The

Place des Vosges The Place des Vosges (), originally Place Royale, is the oldest planned square in Paris, France. It is located in the ''Marais'' district, and it straddles the dividing-line between the 3rd and 4th arrondissements of Paris. It was a fashionabl ...

remained a place for nobles to meet. The district fell into disrepair after the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

and was abandoned by the nobility completely. It would remain unfashionable until the late 20th century.

Jewish community

People

After the French Revolution, the district was no longer the aristocratic district it had been during the 17th and 18th centuries. Because of this, the district became a popular and active commercial area, hosting one of Paris' main Jewish communities. At the end of the 19th century and during the first half of the 20th, the district around the

rue des Rosiers The Rue des Rosiers, which means "street of the rosebushes," is a street in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. It begins at Rue Malher and proceeds northwest across Rue Pavée, Rue Ferdinand Duval, Rue des É ...

, referred to as the "

Pletzl The Pletzl (פלעצל, "little place" in Yiddish) is the Jewish quarter in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. The Place Saint-Paul and the surrounding area were unofficially named the Pletzl when the neighborhood became predominantly Jew ...

", welcomed many Eastern European Jews (

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

) who reinforced the district's clothing specialization. During World War II the Jewish community was targeted by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

who were occupying France. As of today, the rue des Rosiers remains a major center of the Paris Jewish community, which has made a comeback since the 1990s. Public notices announce Jewish events, bookshops specialize in Jewish books, and numerous restaurants and other outlets sell

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...

food.

Institutions

The

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

on 10 rue Pavée is adjacent to the rue des Rosiers.It was designed in 1913 by Art Nouveau architect Hector Guimard, who designed several

Paris Metro Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Sin ...

stations. The Marais houses the Museum of Jewish Art and History, the largest French museum of Jewish art and history. The museum conveys the extensive history and culture of Jews in Europe and North Africa from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.

Terrorist attack

In 1982, Palestinian extremists murdered 6 people and injured 22 at a Jewish restaurant in the Marais, Chez Jo Goldenberg, an attack which evidenced ties to the

Abu Nidal Organization The Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) is the most common name for the Palestinian nationalist militant group Fatah – The Revolutionary Council (''Fatah al-Majles al-Thawry''). The ANO is named after its founder Abu Nidal. It was created by a spli ...

Post-war rehabilitation

By the 1950s, the district had become a working-class area and most of its architectural masterpieces were in a state of neglect. In 1964, General de Gaulle's Culture Minister, Andre Malraux, made the Marais the first ''secteur sauvegardé'' (literally translated as ''safeguarded sector''). That was meant to protect and conserve places deemed to be of special cultural significance. In the following decades, the government and the city led an active restoration and Rehabilitation Policy. The main hôtels particuliers have been restored and turned into museums: the Hôtel Salé hosts the Picasso Museum, the Hôtel Carnavalet hosts the Paris Historical Museum, the Hôtel Donon hosts the Cognacq-Jay Museum, the Hôtel de Saint-Aignan hosts the

Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme The Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme or mahJ (English: "Museum of Jewish Art and History") is the largest French museum of Jewish art and history. It is located in the Hôtel de Saint-Aignan in the Le Marais, Marais district in Paris. The ...

. The site of Beaubourg, the western part of Marais, was chosen for the

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

, France's national Museum of Modern Art, which is widely considered one of the world's most important cultural institutions. The building was completed in 1977 with advanced modern architectural features by

Renzo Piano Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable buildings include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City (20 ...

and Richard Rogers.

Today's Marais

The Marais is now one of Paris' most frequented localities for art galleries. Following its restoration, the Marais has become a popular and culture-defining district, home to many upscale restaurants, fashion houses, and galleries. The Marais is also known for its Chinese community. The community began to form during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. At that time, France needed workers on the home front to perform the duties previously filled by men who were now soldiers on the front lines. China sent a few thousand of its citizens, on the condition that they would not take part in the war. After the 1918 Allied victory, some of them stayed in Paris, living around the current rue au Maire. Today, most work in jewellery and leather-related products. The Marais' Chinese community has settled in the north of the district, particularly in the surrounding of

Place de la République The Place de la République (known as the Place du Château d'Eau until 1879) is a square in Paris, located on the border between the 3rd, 10th and 11th arrondissements. The square has an area of .Warner, p. 250 Named after the First, Second a ...

. Next to it, on the Rue du Temple, is the Chinese Church of Paris. Other features of the neighborhood include the Musée Picasso, the house of

Nicolas Flamel Nicolas Flamel (; 1330 – 22 March 1418) was a French scribe and manuscript-seller. After his death, Flamel developed a reputation as an alchemist believed to have created and discovered the philosopher's stone and to have thereby achieved im ...

, the

Musée Cognacq-Jay The Musée Cognacq-Jay ( en, Cognacq-Jay Museum) is a museum located in the Hôtel Donon in the 3rd arrondissement at 8 rue Elzévir, Paris, France. It is open daily except Monday; admission is free. The nearest Metro stations are Saint-Paul ...

, and the

Musée Carnavalet The Musée Carnavalet in Paris is dedicated to the history of the city. The museum occupies two neighboring mansions: the Hôtel Carnavalet and the former Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau. On the advice of Baron Haussmann, the civil servant wh ...

LGBT culture

The Marais became a center of

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

culture, beginning in the 1980s. Florence Tamagne, author of ''Paris: 'Resting on its Laurels'?'', wrote that the Marais "is less a 'village' where one lives and works than an entrance to a pleasure area" and that this differentiates it from Anglo-American

gay villages ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

.Tamagne, Florence (2014). "Paris: 'Resting on its Laurels'?" (Chapter 12). In: Evans, Jennifer V. and Matt Cook. ''Queer Cities, Queer Cultures: Europe since 1945,'' pp. 240, 250, London, ENG:

Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a U ...

, , 9781441148407, se
240
an

accessed 15 November 2015. Tamagne added that like US gay villages, the Marais has "an emphasis on 'commercialism, gay pride and coming-out of the closet'".''Le Dépôt'', one of the largest cruising bars in Europe as of 2014 (per Tamagne), is in the Marais area. File:Le Marais 01.JPG, Gay village in Le Marais File:Le Marais 02.JPG

Notable residents

* Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully^† *

Urbain de Maillé-Brézé Urbain de Maillé-Brézé () (1597 – 13 February 1650), was a 17th-century French soldier and diplomat, who was a Marshal of France, Ambassador to Sweden in 1632, and Viceroy of Catalonia 1641 to 1642. His marriage to the younger sister ...

^† *

Armand de Vignerot du Plessis Louis François Armand de Vignerot du Plessis, duc de Richelieu (; 13 March 1696 – 8 August 1788), was a French soldier, diplomat and statesman. He joined the army and participated in three major wars. He eventually rose to the rank of Mars ...

^† * Princes of Rohan Soubise *

Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet (1588 – 2 December 1665), known as Madame de Rambouillet, was a society hostess and a major figure in the literary history of 17th-century France. {{French literature sidebar Life Born in Rome, she w ...

^† *

Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné (5 February 1626 – 17 April 1696), also widely known as Madame de Sévigné or Mme de Sévigné, was a French aristocrat, remembered for her letter-writing. Most of her letters, celebrated for ...

^† *

Maximilien Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...

^† *

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

^† *

John Galliano John Charles Galliano (born 28 November 1960) is a British fashion designer from Gibraltar. He was the creative director of his eponymous label John Galliano and French fashion houses Givenchy and Dior. Since 2014, Galliano has been the creat ...

* Jacques Frémontier^† * Jack Lang *

Dominique Strauss-Kahn Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn (; born 25 April 1949), also known as DSK, is a French economist and politician who served as the tenth managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and was a member of the French Socialist P ...

and

Anne Sinclair Anne Sinclair (, born Anne-Élise Schwartz; 15 July 1948) is a New-York-born French television and radio interviewer. She hosted one of the most popular political shows for more than thirteen years on TF1, the largest European private TV channel ...

Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredicta ...

^†

Places and monuments of note

* National Archives, including the

and

Hôtel de Rohan The Archives nationales (, "National Archives" in English; abbreviated AN) are the national archives of France. They preserve the archives of the French state, apart from the archives of the Ministry of Armed Forces and Ministry of Foreign Aff ...

* Carnavalet Museum * Church

Notre-Dame-des-Blancs-Manteaux Notre-Dame des Blancs-Manteaux is a Roman Catholic parish church at 12 Rue des Blancs-Manteaux in Le Marais, in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. It takes its name from the "Les Blancs-Manteaux" ("white mantles"), for the cloaks worn by the mendica ...

* Church of St-Gervais-et-St-Protais * Church

Saint-Merri The Church of Saint-Merri or ''Église Saint-Merry'') is a parish church in Paris, located near the Centre Pompidou along the rue Saint Martin, in the 4th arrondissement on the Rive Droite (Right Bank). It is dedicated to the 8th century abbot of ...

* Church of Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs * Church of

Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis The Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis is a church on rue Saint-Antoine in the Marais quarter of Paris. The present building was constructed from 1627 to 1641 by the Jesuit architects Étienne Martellange and François Derand, on the orders of Lou ...

* Hôtel d'Angoulême Lamoignon (housing the

Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris The Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris, commonly abbreviated with the acronym BHVP, is a public library specializing in the history of the city of Paris, France. Formerly in the Hôtel Saint-Fargeau (now part of the Musée Carnaval ...

and the

Hôtel-Lamoignon - Mark Ashton Garden The Hôtel-Lamoignon – Mark-Ashton Garden (french: Jardin de l'Hôtel-Lamoignon – Mark-Ashton), is a green space located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris next to the . Location The garden is located at the address , in front of the , i ...

. *

Hôtel d'Aumont The Hôtel d'Aumont is a former ''hôtel particulier'', at 7, rue de Jouy, in the 4th arrondissement of Paris; it was built as the seat of the ducs d'Aumont. It is sited in the south of the Marais, facing rue de l’hôtel de Ville, quai de l’h ...

, including the home of

and Café

Ma Bourgogne Ma Bourgogne () is a bistro in Place des Vosges in the Le Marais district of Paris. It is on the North-West point and is a café in the traditional French style. It has been around for many years and it has been spoken of as one of the best bistr ...

Maison européenne de la photographie The Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP; European house of photography), located in the historic heart of Paris, is a center for contemporary photographic art opened in February 1996. Location and activities The Hotel Henault de Cantobre, ...

in the Hôtel de Camtobre (1706) *

Mémorial de la Shoah Mémorial de la Shoah is the Holocaust museum in Paris, France. The memorial is in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, in the Marais district, which had a large Jewish population at the beginning of World War II. The memorial was opened, by Presid ...

, including the Memorial of the Unknown Jewish Martyr and the CDJC *

(housed in the Hôtel de Saint-Aignan) *

Musée des Arts et Métiers The Musée des Arts et Métiers () (French for Museum of Arts and Crafts) is an industrial design museum in Paris that houses the collection of the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers, which was founded in 1794 as a repository for the pr ...

* Musée Picasso *

Place des Émeutes-de-Stonewall The Place des Émeutes-de-Stonewall is a public square in Paris, France. History For the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the City of Paris named a square to pay homage to the riots. The new square was inaugurated by French officials on ...

(Stonewall riots square) * Place Harvey Milk *

, the historic Jewish quarter * Rosiers – Joseph Migneret Garden *

Temple du Marais The Temple du Marais, sometimes known as the Temple Sainte-Marie, or historically, as the Church of Sainte Marie de la Visitation, is a Protestant church located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, in the district of Le Marais at 17 Rue Saint-Anto ...

Gallery

File:Jo Goldenberg restaurant, Paris 12 June 2005.jpg, Jo Goldenberg's Jewish delicatessen (now defunct) on the

; site of the

Goldenberg restaurant attack The Chez Jo Goldenberg restaurant attack was a bombing and shooting attack on a Jewish restaurant in the Parisien district of Marais on 9 August 1982 carried out by the Palestinian militant Abu Nidal Organization, a group that splintered fro ...

File:Chez Marianne (Le Marais Paris) 01.jpg, Chez Marianne, a Jewish restaurant in Le Marais File:Pletzl rue Caron Restaurant Yiddish Pitchi poi.jpg, Restaurant Pitchi Poï in the predominantly Jewish

quarter File:Pletzl rue des Rosiers Boulangerie Juive.jpg, Murciano Jewish bakery in the rue des Rosiers File:Hotel-de-Sens-DSC 8075.jpg, Hôtel de Sens File:Hotel-Soubise-rue-des-Franc.jpg, Hôtel Soubise File:Maison-de-Jean-Herouet-54-r.jpg, Maison de Jean Herouet File:Hotel-d'Almeras-30-rue-des-.jpg, Entrance of l'Hôtel d'Almeras File:P1000705 Paris IV Eglise Saint-Gervais nef centrale reductwk.JPG, Interior of Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais Church File:Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis, façade; et voiture Velib'.JPG, Saint-Paul Saint-Louis Church File:Musée Picasso Paris coté cour.jpg, Hôtel Salé (Picasso Museum) File:Paris-place-des-vosges.jpg, Place des Vosges File:Hôtel de Beauvais salle voûtée au sous-sol.jpg, Medieval cellar of the Hôtel de Beauvais File:Demeures médiévales - Paris (France).JPG, Medieval houses in rue Miron File:Salle de lecture vue d'ensemble.jpg, Reading room in the Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris (City of Paris History Library) File:Paris rue aubriot.jpg, View of rue Aubriot File:Temple Sainte-Marie rue Saint-Antoine 4.jpg, Temple du Marais, a Protestant church File:P1020669 Paris III Hôtel de Saint-Aignan Musée d'art et d'histoire du judaisme rwk.JPG, Courtyard of the Hotel de Saint-Aignan, which houses the

References

External links

Article about the Marais as the gay neighbourhood of Paris

ParisMarais.com: the official guide, partner of the Paris Tourist Office

Le Marais photos

Photographs
My Gay Paris
The latest news on Paris and the Marais with a gay perspective {{Use dmy dates, date=December 2020 * 3rd arrondissement of Paris 4th arrondissement of Paris Marais, le Marais, le Entertainment districts in France Gay villages in France Marais, le Marais, le LGBT culture in Paris Tourist attractions in Paris

History

Paris aristocratic district

Jewish community

People

Institutions

Terrorist attack

Post-war rehabilitation

Today's Marais

LGBT culture

Notable residents

Places and monuments of note

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links