Passage des Panoramas

The Passage des Panoramas is one of the oldest surviving covered arcades in Paris, opened in 1799 and entered from 11 Boulevard Montmartre in the 9th arrondissement, in the Île-de-France. It takes its name from the two large rotundas that once displayed painted panoramas on the boulevard, a popular attraction in the early 19th century. The arcade was among the first public spaces in Paris lit by gas, and it keeps a glass roof, mosaic floor and period shop-fronts that give a sense of 19th-century Parisian commerce. Today it houses stamp and postcard dealers, vintage poster and print shops, a historic engraver, small restaurants and cafés, and independent boutiques. The passage is not a single corridor but a network, and it connects with the Galerie des Variétés, Galerie Saint-Marc and Galerie Montmartre, and is linked by the street crossing to Passage Jouffroy and Passage Verdeau, which form a continuous route of arcades north of the boulevard. A walk through takes 20 to 40 minutes, longer with a meal or browsing the shops. Photo angles favour the long perspective down the glazed galleries and the shop signs seen in morning light, when the arcade is least crowded. The covered ceiling makes it a useful refuge in rain, and weekday lunchtimes are the busiest, as nearby offices and the Grands Boulevards theatres draw in diners. It is open daily except Sundays for shops, though the passage itself can be walked in the evening, and entry is free.