Passage du Ponceau, Covered passage in Bonne-Nouvelle district, Paris, France.
Passage du Ponceau is a covered walkway between Rue Saint-Denis and Boulevard de Sébastopol, stretching about 92 meters with a narrow width of only 2.5 meters. Small shops line both sides under a glass roof that lets light filter through the passage.
This passage was built in 1826 as part of Paris's early covered shopping corridors. Its eastern end was shortened during later urban changes, giving it the form visitors see today.
The wooden shopfronts and carved columns show the craftsmanship of the passage's early days. These details remain visible today and remind visitors of when covered passages were central to Parisian shopping life.
Access is easiest through the nearby Strasbourg-Saint-Denis metro station in the heart of the 2nd arrondissement. The narrow passage is easy to walk through and provides a quiet escape from the busy streets outside.
The original caretaker's building with its wooden facade still stands at one corner of the passage. The glass roof was replaced with modern acrylic sheets in the 1960s, but the old wooden structures below still recall the passage's earlier days.
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