The lore of Le Marais Paris
Le Marais means the marsh. An old bed of the Seine left marshland here, which the Knights Templar farmed from about 1150.
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c. 1150
The Knights Templar, a crusading military order, build a fortified house outside Paris. The district is called the Temple for centuries.
1190
Before leaving on crusade, King Philippe Auguste orders a stone wall to guard Paris. Finished by 1215, part still stands here.
Ministère de la Culture, base Mérimée (POP)Ministère de la Culture, base Mérimée (POP)Bonjour ParisVille de Paris
1370
Work on the Bastille begins on 22 April. The fortress guards rue Saint-Antoine, the eastern way into King Charles V's walled Paris.
1605
King Henri IV orders a square of 36 pavilions, today's Place des Vosges, which drives the Marais's growth through the 1600s.
1615
Paris's oldest covered food market opens on rue de Bretagne. Later it is named Enfants Rouges, red children, for orphans' red uniforms.
1789
On 14 July, crowds take the Bastille, a state prison with seven inmates. In 1880 the day becomes France's national holiday.
1792
Revolutionaries attack the Tuileries palace on 10 August. King Louis XVI and family are jailed in the Temple, the Templars' fortress.
1808
By imperial decree, the state buys the Hôtel de Soubise mansion for the empire's archives. The National Archives still occupy it.
Archives nationales (Ministère de la Culture)Sortir à ParisMinistère de la Culture, base Mérimée (POP)
1880
Paris opens its history museum in the Hôtel Carnavalet, a Renaissance mansion begun in 1548. It now holds over 618,000 objects.
1964
Since the 1700s, workshops had filled the Marais's open spaces. Culture minister André Malraux makes its 126 hectares Paris's first protected district.
Musée Carnavalet - Histoire de Paris (Paris Musées)Ville de Paris (paris.fr)Ministère de la Culture
1985
The national Picasso museum opens in the Hôtel Salé, the salted mansion, named for its first owner's salt-tax fortune.
2026
Fire destroys the Enfants Rouges market and its 17 stalls overnight on 11 October. Its owner says reopening will take years.
OUR PICK2026
Where three Marais streets meet, Le Progrès, a Parisian bar-tabac. Our pick for an Aperol spritz on the terrace.
Today
Today Le Marais is famous for its mansions, its galleries and its boutiques.
SOURCES
- Le Marais, quartier parisienEncyclopaedia Universalis
- Le Temple (prison, Paris, France)Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Enceinte de Philippe-Auguste (notice PA00085800)Ministère de la Culture, base Mérimée (POP)
- Enceinte de Philippe-Auguste, 17-21 rue des Jardins-Saint-Paul (notice PA00086265)Ministère de la Culture, base Mérimée (POP)
- La BastilleLarousse, Encyclopédie
- PSMV du Marais, rapport de présentation, III.3 'Le XVIIe siècle' (place des Vosges)Ville de Paris
- Un petit tour au marché couvert des Enfants RougesVille de Paris (paris.fr)
- The Hôtel de Soubise, a remarkable setting for the French National ArchivesSortir à Paris
- History of the museumMusée Carnavalet - Histoire de Paris (Paris Musées)
- Dossier pédagogique (Marais)Musée Carnavalet - Histoire de Paris (Paris Musées)
- Les Sites Patrimoniaux Remarquables et leurs PSMVVille de Paris (paris.fr)
- Fiche pédagogique: l'hôtel SaléMusée national Picasso-Paris
- Un incendie détruit le plus ancien marché couvert de Paris, 12 October 2026Euronews
- Le marché des Enfants Rouges ne rouvrira pas avant plusieurs annéesLe Bonbon
- André Malraux (1959-1969)Ministère de la Culture
- L'hôtel de SoubiseArchives nationales (Ministère de la Culture)
- Anciens hôtels de Rohan et Soubise, actuellement Archives Nationales (notice PA00086155)Ministère de la Culture, base Mérimée (POP)
- Le ProgrèsParis je t’aime (Paris tourist office)
- Le ProgrèsMapstr
- On the Hunt for Philippe Auguste's Wall in ParisBonjour Paris
- Sur la piste de l’enceinte médiévale Philippe-Auguste, rive droiteVille de Paris
- Guide du Marais, l’un des quartiers les plus tendance de ParisLonely Planet France
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. The print of Le Marais