Passage Choiseul, Covered passage in the 2nd arrondissement, Paris, France.
Passage Choiseul is a covered arcade 190 metres long and 3.7 metres wide, running between the rue des Petits-Champs and the rue Saint-Augustin. Its glazed roof is carried on metal arches above rows of shopfronts, and the walls are timber-framed with marble-imitation pilasters from which the ground-floor arcades spring. The upper floors are residential.
The Mallet Bank built the passage between 1826 and 1827 as a speculative development on the site of four hôtels particuliers, including the Hôtel de Gesvres, whose porch still forms the northern entrance. François Mazois drew the plans but died in 1826; Antoine Tavernier completed the work and added the Passage Sainte-Anne. The project was reshaped by the construction of the Opéra-Comique's Salle Ventadour.
The passage takes its name from the Rue de Choiseul, which honours Étienne-François de Choiseul-Beaupré-Stainville, war and foreign minister under Louis XV. The Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, opened in 1857, has its secondary exit at no. 67 and has drawn audiences into the gallery ever since. A historical marker at no. 67 recalls Louis-Ferdinand Céline, whose mother kept a notions shop there.
The passage connects rue des Petits Champs to rue Saint-Augustin and offers clear pathways for walking and exploring. Natural light filters through the glass ceiling, making it easy to navigate and shop comfortably throughout the day.
French writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline spent part of his childhood within this passage and later drew on these memories in his literary works. His personal connection to the place adds a layer of literary history that few visitors know about.
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