The Marais (Le MaraisFrench: [ləmaʁɛ] ; "the marsh") is a historic district in Paris, France. It spreads across parts of the 3rd and 4th arrondissements on the Rive Droite, or Right Bank, of the Seine. Having once been an aristocratic district, it is home to many buildings of historic and architectural importance. It lost its status as a fashionable district in the late 18th century, with only minor nobles calling the area home. After the French Revolution, the district fell into disrepair and was abandoned by nobility. After a long period of decay, the district has undergone transformation in recent years and is now once again amongst the more fashionable areas of Paris, [1] known for its art galleries, upscale restaurants and museums.
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In 1240, the Knights Templar built a fortified church just outside the walls of Paris, in the northern part of the Marais. Later on, The Temple (also known as the Temple Quarter) had many religious institutions built nearby. These include: the convents 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 built his residence near the current n°7 rue de Sévigné. [2] In 1361, King Charles V built a mansion known as the Hôtel Saint-Pol, in which the Royal Court 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 ) was designed under King Henri IV of France in 1605, the Marais was the favoured place of residence of the French nobility. Among the many urban mansions—hôtels particuliers, in French—they built there were the Hôtel de Sens, the Hôtel de Sully, the Hôtel de Beauvais, the Hôtel Carnavalet, the Hôtel de Guénégaud and the Hôtel de Soubise.
During the late 18th century, the district was no longer considered the most fashionable district by 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, lived there. The Place des Vosges remained a place for nobles to meet. The district fell into disrepair after the French Revolution and was then abandoned by the nobility completely. It was to remain unfashionable until the late 20th century.
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, referred to as the "Pletzl", welcomed many Eastern European Jews (Ashkenazi) who reinforced the district's clothing specialization. During World War II the Jewish community was targeted by the Nazis 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 food.[ citation needed ]
The synagogue on 10 rue Pavée is adjacent to the rue des Rosiers. [3] It was designed in 1913 by Art Nouveau architect Hector Guimard, who designed many Paris Metro stations.[ citation needed ] 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. [4] [5]
Cnaan Lipshiz of Times of Israel wrote that in previous eras the district was "the beating heart of French Jewry". [6]
In 1982, Palestinian extremists murdered six people and injured 22 at a Jewish restaurant in the Marais, Chez Jo Goldenberg, an attack which evidenced ties to the Abu Nidal Organization. [7] [8] [9]
By 2019 much Jewish business activity left The Marais, and it had fewer Jewish residents. [6]
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.[ citation needed ]
The main hôtels particuliers have since been restored and turned into museums: the Hôtel Salé hosts the Picasso Museum, the Hôtel Carnavalet the Paris Historical Museum, the Hôtel Donon the Cognacq-Jay Museum, and the Hôtel de Saint-Aignan hosts the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme. The site of Beaubourg, the western part of Marais, was chosen for the Centre Georges Pompidou, 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 and Richard Rogers.[ citation needed ]
The Marais is now one of Paris' most frequented localities for art galleries. Following its restoration, the Marais has now become a popular and culture-defining district, home to many upscale restaurants, museums, fashion houses, and galleries.
The Marais is also known for its Chinese community, which first formed during World War I. 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 actually take part in the war. Following 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 mainly settled in the north of the district, particularly in the vicinity of Place de la République. Next to it, on the Rue du Temple, is the Chinese Church of Paris.[ citation needed ]
Other features of the neighborhood include the Musée Picasso, the house of Nicolas Flamel, the Musée Cognacq-Jay, and the Musée Carnavalet.
The Marais became a center of LGBT culture, beginning in the 1980s.[ citation needed ] 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. [10] Tamagne added that like US gay villages, the Marais has "an emphasis on 'commercialism, gay pride and coming-out of the closet'". [10] Le Dépôt, one of the largest cruising bars in Europe as of 2014 (per Tamagne), is in the Marais area. [10]
The 3rd arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements (districts) of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is colloquially referred to as "le troisième" meaning "the third". Its postal code is 75003. It is governed locally together with the 1st, 2nd and 4th arrondissements, with which it forms the 1st sector of Paris, Paris Centre.
The 4th arrondissement of Paris is one of the twenty arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as quatrième. Along with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd arrondissements, it is in the first sector of Paris, which maintains a single local government rather than four separate ones.
Saint-Paul is a station on Paris Métro Line 1, close to the Rue Saint-Paul. It serves the neighbourhood of Le Marais, known for its Jewish and gay communities, and fine town houses.
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 who transformed Paris in the latter half of the 19th century, the Hôtel Carnavalet was purchased by the Municipal Council of Paris in 1866; it was opened to the public in 1880. By the latter part of the 20th century, the museum was full to capacity. The Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau was annexed to the Carnavalet and opened to the public in 1989.
The Rue des Rosiers, which means "street of the rosebushes," is a street in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, France. It begins at the Rue Malher and proceeds northwest across the Rue Pavée, Rue Ferdinand Duval, Rue des Écouffes, and Rue des Hospitalières Saint-Gervais before it ends at the Rue Vieille du Temple.
The Rue des Francs-Bourgeois is one of the longer streets in the Marais district of Paris, France.
Alfred Dehodencq was a French Orientalist painter known for his vivid oil paintings of Andalusian and North African scenes.
The Musée d'Art Juif was a private museum of Jewish art located at 42, rue des Saules, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, France. The nearest Paris Métro station is Lamarck – Caulaincourt on Line 12.
The Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme or mahJ is the largest French museum of Jewish art and history. It is located in the Hôtel de Saint-Aignan in the Marais district in Paris.
The Musée des Archives Nationales, formerly known as the Musée de l'Histoire de France, is a state museum of French history operated by the Archives Nationales. The museum features exhibitions drawn from the collections of the government archives and aims to provide document-based perspective on France’s history and the evolution of French society. It is housed in the Hôtel de Soubise in the Marais neighborhood in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, France. It was first established under Napoleon III in 1867, with the direction of Léon de Laborde.
The Pletzl 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 Jewish after an influx of immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Place des Combattantes-et-Combattants-du-Sida is a public square in the 4th arrondissement of Paris near the Saint-Paul metro station and the Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis.
The Hôtel de Saint-Aignan, originally the Hôtel d'Avaux, is a 17th-century hôtel particulier, located at 71 Rue de Temple, in the 3rd arrondissement and the Marais district of Paris. It was constructed 1644–1650 to the designs of the architect Pierre Le Muet for Cardinal Mazarin's Superintendent of Finances, Claude de Mesmes, Comte d'Avaux, and later purchased by Paul de Beauvilliers, Duc de Saint-Aignan, who added the grand staircase. It is now the home of the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme.
This article presents the main landmarks in the city of Paris within administrative limits, divided by its 20 arrondissements. Landmarks located in the suburbs of Paris, outside of its administrative limits, while within the metropolitan area are not included in this article.
Jacques Émile Édouard Brandon was a French artist who is known especially for his paintings of Jewish themes. Most sources list his place of birth as Paris, although some say Bordeaux or Lisbon. He signed his paintings "Ed. Brandon," and his full name commonly is given as Jacques Émile Édouard Brandon, but also as Jacob Émile Édouard Péreira Brandon.
Théo Klein was a French lawyer who presided over the Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France from 1983 to 1989. Klein was a Zionist and a French patriot. He advocated for secular values. He was sometimes critical of Israeli foreign policy and the nation's unconditional supporters.
The 136 museums in the city of Paris display many historical, scientific, and archeological artifacts from around the world, covering diverse and unique topics including fashion, theater, sports, cosmetics, and the culinary arts.
The Rue des Archives is a street in Le Marais at the border of 3rd and 4th arrondissements of Paris, France.
Emmanuelle Polack is a French art historian and author who investigates provenance of works of art in the Louvre as director of research there.
The Binant Series (Scenes of civilian and military life) (French - Suite Binant - Scènes de la vie civile et militaire) was a series of 36 large-format paintings commissioned by (and named after) Parisian art-material dealer Alfred Binant (1822-1904) in the wake of the Siege of Paris. 13 artists were involved, producing a precious record of the recent Franco-Prussian War and Paris Commune, first exhibited in 1872. Only thirteen of the full paintings survive, all of which are now in the Musée Carnavalet, though 36 modellos for the series were rediscovered in the stores of the Musée Gassendi in Digne-les-Bains in June 2017.