Passage du Cheval-Blanc, Hidden passageway in 11th arrondissement, Paris, France.
Passage du Cheval-Blanc begins at 2 rue de la Roquette with a stone-framed entrance bearing its name and ends as a dead end. Inside, seven interlocking courtyards named after months open off the passage, including Cour de Février with timber-framed gilders' workshops and an old water trough, and the circular Cour de Juin with brightly painted half-timbered facades.
This passage was built in 1824 and 1825, replacing what was once a lumber storage yard called the 'chantier du Cheval-Blanc'. It gained official recognition as a private passage in 1857.
The courtyards carry month names: Janvier, Février, Mars, Avril, Mai and Juin, plus the Cour Sainte-Marguerite at the eastern end. In the Cour de Février, timber-framed workshops of gilders survive, their wood decoration recalling the site's past as a lumber yard in the furniture district; an old water trough stands at the back.
The passage is a dead end: it starts at 2 rue de la Roquette and stops inside. A second way in exists through the Cité Parchappe courtyard at 21 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine, which meets the passage at no. 10. The entrance gate on rue de la Roquette is often closed, so check access before crossing the neighbourhood.
The Cour de Février, at no. 5, holds timber-framed workshops built for gilders, their carved wood decoration recalling the lumber yard that gave the passage its name. An old watering trough survives at the back of the courtyard. The passage was only officially recognised as a private way in 1857, three decades after its 1824–1825 construction.
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