Marais, a former marsh
The Marais, once a marsh, is an iconic district straddling the 3rd and 4th arrondissements. Millennia ago, a meander of the Seine encompassed most of the Right Bank. Over time, the river changed its course, leaving behind a vast marsh.
For centuries, the Rive Droite – Right Bank was impassable and remained largely uninhabited, with only a few hamlets near the Pont Notre-Dame and along the Rue Saint-Martin, an old thoroughfare connecting Paris to the north.
It began to transform in the 11th century when the Knights Templar and the monks of the Abbey of Saint-Martin-des-Champs undertook the draining of the marsh to establish their monasteries. Although communities began to form in the surrounding area, the Right Bank nevertheless remained sparsely populated for the next five centuries.
The construction of the Hôtel Saint-Pol, a royal palace commissioned by Charles V on the banks of the Seine in the 14th century, triggered the beginning of urbanisation on the Right Bank.
However, it was Francis I who initiated significant changes at the beginning of the 16th century. He indeed had the old palace demolished to build a new district, which evolved into our present-day Quartier Saint-Paul. The 15th-century Hôtel de Sens is one of the Marais’s many architectural gems and also one of the oldest private mansions in Paris.
Aristocratic Marais
However, the Marais, as we know it today, only took shape at the beginning of the 17th century with the construction of the Place Royale, now the Place des Vosges, by King Henry IV.
This ambitious project attracted aristocrats and wealthy bourgeoisie, who commissioned the construction of the magnificent private mansions in the vicinity of the royal square.
Throughout the 17th century, the Marais remained an exclusive enclave of the aristocracy.
However, its prestige began to decline from 1682 onward, when Louis XIV moved his court to the newly completed Palace of Versailles.
As a result, aristocrats and courtiers left their prestigious residences in the Marais to settle on the Rive Gauche – Left Bank, along the road leading to Versailles.
A more modest population of workers, merchants and artisans began to move into the large, deserted mansions, adapting them into small apartments and shops, which contributed to the degradation of the neighbourhood.
Fortunately, much of the Marais was spared Haussmann‘s major urban renewal projects in the mid-19th century.
However, the neighbourhood underwent significant transformations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During this period, a considerable number of Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe, fleeing persecution, settled in Paris, particularly around the Rue des Rosiers.
World War I also saw the emergence of Paris’s first Chinese community, which established itself in the Arts et Métiers district.
In 1985, the opening of the Musée Picasso in the Hôtel Salé breathed new artistic life into the neighbourhood, and spurred the opening of numerous art galleries.
Marais, a protected area
Art and heritage are indeed an integral part of the district’ identity.
On August 4, 1962, the Minister of Culture at the time, André Malraux, enacted a law for the preservation of the Marais. The Loi Malraux guaranteed rigorous control of all renovation and development projects within designated conservation areas, such as the Marais. Thanks to this law, the rampant and often uncontrolled urbanisation of the 20th century was stopped to preserve the unique character of the Marais.
The Marais is also part of the riverside protection program known as Berges de la Seine – Banks of the Seine. As a result, UNESCO inscribed the Marais site on the World Heritage List on 13th December, 1991.
Strolling through its maze of medieval alleyways, you will discover a multitude of exceptional buildings, many of which are listed or protected. Some of these historic buildings have been converted into museums, offering you a glimpse into the rich heritage of this exceptional district.
Coordinates: Lat 48.858703 – Long 2.358804
