# Covered passages of Paris

The covered passages of Paris (French: Passages couverts de 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 (municipal districts) 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 (initially with gas lamps); privately owned; highly ornamented and decorated; 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 (a ‘shoe cleaning artist’).
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 (Arcades Project) which was posthumously published.

## 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 |
| 1 | Passage des Deux-Pavillons | 1820 | 6 rue de Beaujolais 5 rue des Petits-Champs | | Mérimée | 33m |
| 1 | Galerie Véro-Dodat | 1826 | 19 rue Jean-Jacques-Rousseau 2 rue du Bouloi | Monday-Saturday (except public holidays) 0700-2200 | Mérimée | 80m |
| 2 | Passage Ben-Aïad | 1826 | 9-11 rue Léopold-Bellan 8 rue Bachaumont | Closed to the public | Mérimée | 90m |
| 2 | Passage du Bourg-l'Abbé | 1828 | 120 rue Saint-Denis 3 rue de Palestro | Monday-Saturday 0700-1900 | Mérimée | 47m |
| 2 | Passage du Caire | 1798 | 33 rue d'Alexandrie 2 place du Caire 237-239 rue Saint-Denis 14, 34 et 44 rue du Caire | Monday-Friday 0700-1800 | | 360m |
| 2 | Passage Choiseul | 1829 | 40 rue des Petits-Champs 23 rue Saint-Augustin 40 rue Dalayrac Passage Sainte-Anne | | Mérimée | 190m |
| 2 | Galerie Colbert | 1826 | 6 rue des Petits-Champs 2 rue Vivienne | | Mérimée | 83m |
| 2 | Passage du Grand-Cerf | 1825 | 145 rue Saint-Denis 10 rue Dussoubs | Monday-Saturday 0800 - 2000 | Mérimée | 117m |
| 2 | Passage des Panoramas | 1800 | 10 rue Saint-Marc 11 boulevard Montmartre 38 rue Vivienne 151 rue Montmartre | 0600-2400 | Mérimée | 133m |
| 2 | Passage du Ponceau | 1826 | 119 boulevard de Sébastopol 212 rue Saint-Denis | Monday-Friday 8-9 | | 92m |
| 2 | Passage des Princes | 1860 | 5 boulevard des Italiens 97-99 rue de Richelieu | Monday-Saturday 0800 - 2000 | Mérimée | 80m |
| 2 | Passage Sainte-Anne | 1829 | 59-61 rue Sainte-Anne Passage Choiseul | | Mérimée | 47m |
| 2 | Galerie Vivienne | 1823 | 4 rue des Petits-Champs 6 rue Vivienne 5 rue de la Banque | 0800 - 2000 | Mérimée | 176m |
| 3 | Passage Molière | 1791 | 82 rue Quincampoix 157, 159, 161 rue Saint-Martin | | Mérimée | 46m |
| 3 | Passage Vendôme | 1827 | 16 rue Béranger 3 place de la République | Monday-Friday 0700 - 2000 Saturday 0800 - 2000 | Mérimée | 57m |
| 6 | Cour du Commerce-Saint-André | 1776 | 59 rue Saint-André-des-Arts 21 rue de l'Ancienne-Comédie 130 boulevard Saint-Germain | | Mérimée | 120m |
| 8 | Cité Berryer | 1745 | 24 rue Boissy-d'Anglas 24 rue Royale | | Mérimée | 95m |
| 8 | Arcades du Lido | 1926 | 76-78 avenue des Champs-Élysées 59 rue de Ponthieu | | | 120m |
| 8 | Galerie de la Madeleine | 1845 | 9 place de la Madeleine 30 rue Boissy-d'Anglas | Monday-Saturday (except public holidays) 0800-1900 | Mérimée | 53m |
| 8 | Passage Puteaux | 1839 | 33 rue de l'Arcade 28 rue Pasquier | Monday-Friday 0700 - 2400 | | 29m |
| 9 | Passage du Havre | 1845 | 69 rue de Caumartin 109 rue Saint-Lazare | | | 115m |
| 9 | Passage Jouffroy | 1845 | 10-12 boulevard Montmartre 9 rue de la Grange-Batelière | 0700 - 2100 | Mérimée | 140m |
| 9 | Passage Verdeau | 1847 | 6 rue de la Grange-Batelière 31 bis rue du Faubourg-Montmartre | Monday-Friday 0700 - 2100 Saturday-Sunday 0700 - 2000 | Mérimée | 75m |
| 10 | Passage Brady | 1828 | 43 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Martin 22 boulevard de Strasbourg 33 boulevard de Strasbourg (covered section) 46 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis | | Mérimée | 216m |
| 10 | Passage du Prado | 1830 | 16 Boulevard Saint-Denis [fr] 16 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis | 0900 - 1900 | | 120m |