Passage des Princes

The Passage des Princes holds a unique distinction in Parisian history as the very last covered shopping arcade built during the reign of Napoleon the Third. Inaugurated in eighteen sixty, it was commissioned by the banker Jules Mires to serve as a convenient, sheltered connection between the Rue de Richelieu and the bustling Boulevard des Italiens. To create this path, Mires demolished the Grand Hotel des Princes et de l Europe, a luxury building that previously occupied the site. His ambitious project was completed just before the massive urban renewals led by Baron Haussmann fundamentally changed the layout of the city.