Passage des Panoramas

The Passage des Panoramas features an iron and glass roof that stretches above the street, shielding the shops from the weather. Built in seventeen ninety-nine, it marks the beginning of the covered passages in Paris. Before this, shoppers dealt with mud and carriages in the open streets. The site originally housed two giant circular paintings of cities that stood at the entrance. People paid to walk inside the dark cylinders and feel as though they stood in the middle of a landscape.