Page 20 - TravelSketch - PARIS

DISCOVER & EXPLORE

6. Le Marais:

Village St Paul, Les Enfant Rouges, Place des Vosges

• In the 12th century, the Templars built their fortified churches in this outskirt of

Paris, but it’s only in the 17th century, after the Place des Vosges was built under

King Henri IV that this neighborhood started to develop with many nobles built

their mansions (”Hotel Particulier”), such as Hôtel de Sens (now The Forney

Library, specialized in arts and crafts), Hôtel de Sully (part of Ministry of Culture),

Hôtel de Beauvais (administrative court of appeal of Paris), Hôtel Carnavalet

(Museum of history of Paris), Hôtel de Guénégaud (Nature & Hunting Museum),

and Hôtel de Soubise (French National Archives).

• At the turn of the 20th century, many eastern European Jews settled around rue
des Rosiers and this part of the Marais remains a major center of the Jewish

community.

• In the 1980’s the south-east part of the Marais developed into a gay community

since the “Village”, the first gay bar opened in 1978. The rest is history.