Forum des Halles description and photos - France: Paris (Topic)

Forum des Halles description and photos - France: Paris. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Forum des Halles.

Photo and description

Forum-le-Halles, or Forum Central Market, is a huge underground shopping center and at the same time the largest underground transport hub in Paris. It is located in the Beaubourg district, where the central Parisian market seethed for eight centuries.

In the XII century, King Philippe Crooked ordered the former fields and vegetable gardens around the cemetery of the Innocents to be occupied by the city market of Les Halles. A new suburb of Paris, Beau Bourg, was formed here. From about 1200 to 1500, the market traded anything, but then it focused exclusively on the wholesale of edibles.

Like any large shopping center, Le Halle had problems with sanitation. In the 19th century, Napoleon III decided to transform Paris into an exemplary city and was highly critical of the state of the market. At one time, the monarch liked the glazed landing stage of the Eastern Station, designed by the architect Baltar. The emperor entrusted him with the design.

Baltar built square pavilions connected by covered galleries under skylights. Without a doubt, this colossal repository of goods and people, boiling from early morning until late at night and meeting the needs of the metropolis, played a significant role in the development of French capitalism. Emile Zola called it "the belly of Paris", the market has become a recognized symbol of the city. It worked even during the occupation.

However, in the 60s of the XX century, it became clear that the market was outdated. After heated discussions, he was moved out of town. For several years, a wasteland lay in its former place. In 1979, the Carre-le-Halle aboveground-underground complex was erected here, which later received its modern name. The complex goes underground on four floors, on which there are shops, the Holographic Museum and a branch of the Grevin Museum, a video library, a swimming pool, a tropical garden.

Even below are platforms of five metro stations and an interchange hub for three high-speed metro lines RER.

On the surface, the park adjoins the complex Les Halles, in the design of which metal trusses are used. They remind of Baltar's pavilions that were once located here, the true "belly of Paris".

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Topic: Forum des Halles description and photos - France: Paris.