thumb|right|[[Hôtel de Sens]]

thumb|right|[[Hôtel de Guénégaud (rue des Archives)|Hôtel de Guénégaud]]

thumb|The [[Hôtel de Saint-Aignan, housing the Museum of Jewish Art and History]]

thumb|right|Entrance of the Hôtel d'Albret

thumb|right|The [[Hôtel de Sully's gardens, near the Place des Vosges]]

thumb|right|The courtyard of the [[Hôtel Carnavalet]]

thumb|right|The [[corps de logis of the Hôtel de Soubise]]

The Marais (Le Marais ; "the marsh") is a historic district in Paris, France. It spreads across parts of the 3rd and 4th arrondissements on the Rive Droite, or Right Bank, of the Seine. Having once been an aristocratic district, it is home to many buildings of historic and architectural importance. It lost its status as a fashionable district in the late 18th century, with only minor nobles calling the area home. After the French Revolution, the district fell into disrepair and was abandoned by nobility. After a long period of decay, the district has undergone transformation in recent years and is now once again amongst the more fashionable areas of Paris, known for its art galleries, upscale restaurants and museums.

History

Paris aristocratic district

In 1240, the Knights Templar built a fortified church just outside the walls of Paris, in the northern part of the Marais. Later on, The Temple (also known as the Temple Quarter) had many religious institutions built nearby. These include: the convents des Blancs-Manteaux, de Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie and des Carmes-Billettes, as well as the church of .

During the mid-13th century, Charles I of Anjou, King of Naples and Sicily, and brother of King Louis IX of France built his residence near the current n°7 rue de Sévigné. In 1361, King Charles V built a mansion known as the Hôtel Saint-Pol, in which the Royal Court settled during his reign (as well as his son's).

From that time to the 17th century and especially after the Royal Square (Place Royale, current place des Vosges) was designed under King Henri IV of France in 1605, the Marais was the favoured place of residence of the French nobility. Among the many urban mansions—hôtels particuliers, in French—they built there were the Hôtel de Sens, the Hôtel de Sully, the Hôtel de Beauvais, the Hôtel Carnavalet, the Hôtel de Guénégaud and the Hôtel de Soubise.

During the late 18th century, the district was no longer considered the most fashionable district by the nobility, yet it still kept its reputation of being an aristocratic area. By that time, only minor nobles and a few higher ranking nobles, such as the Prince de Soubise, lived there. The Place des Vosges remained a place for nobles to meet. The district fell into disrepair after the French Revolution and was then abandoned by the nobility completely. It was to remain unfashionable until the late 20th century.

Jewish community

After the French Revolution, the district was no longer the aristocratic district it had been during the 17th and 18th centuries. Because of this, the district became a popular and active commercial area, hosting one of Paris' main Jewish communities. At the end of the 19th century and during the first half of the 20th, the district around the rue des Rosiers, referred to as the "Pletzl", welcomed many Eastern European Jews (Ashkenazi) who reinforced the district's clothing specialization. During World War II the Jewish community was targeted by the Nazis who were occupying France. As of today, the rue des Rosiers remains a major center of the Paris Jewish community, which has made a comeback since the 1990s. Public notices announce Jewish events, bookshops specialize in Jewish books, and numerous restaurants and other outlets sell kosher food.

The synagogue on 10 rue Pavée is adjacent to the rue des Rosiers. It was designed in 1913 by Art Nouveau architect Hector Guimard, who designed many Paris Metro stations. The Marais houses the Museum of Jewish Art and History, the largest French museum of Jewish art and history. The museum conveys the extensive history and culture of Jews in Europe and North Africa from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.

Cnaan Lipshiz of Times of Israel wrote that in previous eras the district was "the beating heart of French Jewry".

In 1982, Palestinian extremists murdered six people and injured 22 at a Jewish restaurant in the Marais, Chez Jo Goldenberg, an attack which evidenced ties to the Abu Nidal Organization.

By 2019 much Jewish business activity left The Marais, and it had fewer Jewish residents. Tamagne added that like US gay villages, the Marais has "an emphasis on 'commercialism, gay pride and coming-out of the closet.

  • Maximilien Robespierre<sup>†</sup>
  • Princes of Rohan Soubise
  • Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Anne Sinclair

Places and monuments of note

  • National Archives, including the Hôtel de Soubise and Hôtel de Rohan
  • Carnavalet Museum
  • Church Notre-Dame-des-Blancs-Manteaux
  • Church of St-Gervais-et-St-Protais
  • Church Saint-Merri
  • Church of Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs
  • Church of Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis
  • Hôtel d'Angoulême Lamoignon (housing the Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris and the Hôtel-Lamoignon - Mark Ashton Garden.
  • Hôtel d'Aumont
  • Hôtel de Beauvais
  • Hôtel de Sens
  • Hôtel de Sully
  • Place des Vosges, including the home of Victor Hugo and Café Ma Bourgogne
  • Maison européenne de la photographie in the Hôtel de Camtobre (1706)
  • Mémorial de la Shoah, including the Memorial of the Unknown Jewish Martyr and the CDJC
  • Musée Cognacq-Jay
  • Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme (housed in the Hôtel de Saint-Aignan)
  • Musée des Arts et Métiers
  • Musée Picasso
  • Place des Émeutes-de-Stonewall (Stonewall riots square)
  • Place Harvey Milk
  • Pletzl, the historic Jewish quarter
  • Rosiers – Joseph Migneret Garden
  • Temple du Marais

<gallery mode="packed">

File:Jo Goldenberg restaurant, Paris 12 June 2005.jpg|Jo Goldenberg's Jewish delicatessen (now defunct) on the rue des Rosiers; site of the Goldenberg restaurant attack

File:Chez Marianne (Le Marais Paris) 01.jpg|Chez Marianne, a Jewish restaurant in Le Marais

File:Pletzl rue Caron Restaurant Yiddish Pitchi poi.jpg|Restaurant Pitchi Poï in the predominantly Jewish Pletzl quarter

File:Pletzl rue des Rosiers Boulangerie Juive.jpg|Murciano Jewish bakery in the rue des Rosiers

File:Hotel-de-Sens-DSC 8075.jpg|Hôtel de Sens

File:Hotel-Soubise-rue-des-Franc.jpg|Hôtel Soubise

File:Maison-de-Jean-Herouet-54-r.jpg|Maison de Jean Herouet

File:Hotel-d'Almeras-30-rue-des-.jpg|Entrance of l'Hôtel d'Almeras

File:P1000705 Paris IV Eglise Saint-Gervais nef centrale reductwk.JPG|Interior of Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais Church

File:Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis, façade; et voiture Velib'.JPG|Saint-Paul Saint-Louis Church

File:Musée Picasso Paris coté cour.jpg|Hôtel Salé (Picasso Museum)

File:Paris-place-des-vosges.jpg|Place des Vosges

File:Hôtel de Beauvais salle voûtée au sous-sol.jpg|Medieval cellar of the Hôtel de Beauvais

File:Demeures médiévales - Paris (France).JPG|Medieval houses in rue Miron

File:Salle de lecture vue d'ensemble.jpg|Reading room in the Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris (City of Paris History Library)

File:Paris rue aubriot.jpg|View of rue Aubriot

File:Temple Sainte-Marie rue Saint-Antoine 4.jpg|Temple du Marais, a Protestant church

File:P1020669 Paris III Hôtel de Saint-Aignan Musée d'art et d'histoire du judaisme rwk.JPG|Courtyard of the Hotel de Saint-Aignan, which houses the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme

</gallery>

See also

  • Musée Carnavalet
  • Goldenberg restaurant attack
  • History of the Jews in France
  • LGBT culture in Paris
  • Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme
  • Musée Picasso
  • Rue Beautreillis
  • Rue des Rosiers

References

Further reading

  • Sibalis, Michael (August 2004). "Urban Space and Homosexuality: The Example of the Marais, Paris' 'Gay Ghetto'" (Wilfrid Laurier University). Urban Studies. Vol. 41 no. 9 p.&nbsp;1739-1758. .
  • Le Marais
  • Le Marais: The Indifferent Ghetto () Article about the Marais as the gay neighbourhood of Paris
  • Gay Paris: English speaking gay walks in Paris
  • ParisMarais.com: the official guide, partner of the Paris Tourist Office
  • Le Marais photos
  • Marais district Photographs
  • My Gay Paris—The latest news on Paris and the Marais with a gay perspective