Passage des Panoramas, arcade on boulevard Montmartre since 1799

The Passage des Panoramas, a covered arcade off boulevard Montmartre, was built in 1799 by Jean-Louis Girard on the site of the Hôtel de Montmorency-Luxembourg. The American shipowner James William Thayer, who had bought the house at auction, had its first stretch cut through. It then held more than sixty shops with living quarters.

Its name comes from two rotundas showing panoramic paintings of Paris, Toulon, Rome or Jerusalem, an attraction run by the inventor Robert Fulton. The arcade was given glass roofs and, in 1816, an early trial of gas lighting. Confectioners, glovers, goldsmiths and music publishers followed one another, and Zola described it in Nana.

The rotundas were pulled down in 1831. In 1834 the architect Grisart added three more galleries, among them the Galerie des Variétés, leading to the stage door of the neighbouring theatre. The engraver Stern moved in, followed by postcard and stamp dealers. The historic arcade was restored in the late 1980s.

Listed as a historic monument since 1974, the arcade runs from boulevard Montmartre to rue Saint-Marc, in the 2nd arrondissement. It still houses stamp dealers, postcard sellers, restaurants and the Stern shopfront, itself protected.