Galerie Colbert

The Galerie Colbert stands as a quiet monument to a failed rivalry. Built in eighteen twenty-six, it was commissioned by a group of investors specifically to challenge the dominance of the nearby Galerie Vivienne. While the Vivienne succeeded and remained a thriving commercial hub, the Colbert quickly faltered, failing to draw the same crowds and eventually falling into total decay. By the late nineteenth century, it had slipped into a state of such disrepair that it was labeled as suffering from commercial anemia before being largely demolished and rebuilt in the eighteen seventies. Continue