Passage des Panoramas, Covered passage in 2nd arrondissement, France.
The Passage des Panoramas is a covered walkway 133 meters long and 3.2 meters wide, connecting Boulevard Montmartre to Rue Saint-Marc through glass-topped corridors. Its four branching pathways contain more than 20 shops ranging from restaurants and boutiques to antique dealers and specialized retailers.
The Passage des Panoramas opened in 1800 on the site of the Hôtel de Montmorency-Luxembourg, built in 1704. Its name comes from two rotundas, 17 metres in diameter and 7 metres high, where Robert Fulton showed panoramic paintings of Paris, Toulon, Rome and Jerusalem to fund his submarine project. The rotundas were demolished in 1831; in 1834 the architect Grisart added three galleries, and the passage was restored in the late 1980s.
The passage became a centre of Parisian philately: after the engraver Stern settled here in 1834, postcard and postage-stamp merchants followed. Panel signs reading "PHILATÉLIE" still mark the trade, and the shopfronts along the arcade display stamp and postcard stocks.
The glass roof provides shelter from rain and wind while you browse the various shops and restaurants throughout the space. Visit on weekday mornings to avoid crowds, as the narrow corridor can feel busy during peak shopping hours.
The engraver Stern set up shop in the passage in 1834, and his boutique is listed as a monument historique. Caffè Stern is a restaurant, not a bakery, occupying that historic engraver's premises. Look for the shopfront of the engraver's old boutique as you walk the galleries.
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