Les Halles was the central fresh food market in the 1st arrondissement of Paris (France). It last operated on 12 January 1973, after which it was “left to the demolition men who will knock down the last three of the eight iron-and-glass pavilions” and replaced by an underground shopping centre.
The hugely unsuccessful and unpopular 1960s modern development together with the unattractive 1980s modern garden on top of it, was demolished yet again in 2010, and replaced by the Westfield Forum des Halles, a modern shopping mall built largely underground and directly connected to the massive RER and Paris metro transit hub of Châtelet–Les Halles.
The shopping mall welcomes 150,000 visitors daily.
A major reconstruction of the mall was undertaken in 2010, and the new version of the Forum des Halles was inaugurated in 2018.
In 2023, the Forum des Halles was the second most visited shopping mall in the Paris region with 42 million yearly visitors.
- Parking: 2,100 spaces
- Number of stores and services: 168
- Location: Paris, France
- Opening date: 1979, reconstruction by 2018
- Owner: Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (mall), RATP, (transit hub)
- Total retail floor area: 60,000 sq. m.
Scenes of the old Les Halles marketplace can be seen in Bonjour Tristesse (1958) and in Charade and Irma la Douce (both 1963).
In 1977, Roberto Rossellini made a 54-minute documentary film that testified to the public’s response to the demolition of Les Halles and the construction of Centre Georges Pompidou. “The result was a sceptical vision rather than a pure celebration.”
The open-air market and Baltard’s pavilions were digitally reconstructed for the 2004 film Un long dimanche de fiançailles (A Very Long Engagement), which was set after the First World War.
Address: 4 Pass. de la Canopée, 75001 Paris, France.
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