Carreau-du-Temple, for centuries a market and a festive area, today a cultural and sports place

HISTORY

Enriched during the Crusades, the order of warrior monks known as the Knights Templar built a monastery at the end of the 12th century, which could be reached via Rue du Temple (1242, extended in 1851) and Rue Vieille-du-Temple. When the order was abolished in 1311, the Templars' property was transferred to the Hospitallers, including the Parisian monastery. A tower with thick walls was added, followed by a palace for the grand priory (1567). The surrounding enclosure was a free zone with the right of asylum, and many craftsmen (and debtors) settled there. Used as a prison for the royal family during the Revolution, the tower was destroyed in 1811. The priory became a convent before being destroyed in 1853 and transformed into a square (1857). The enclosure became a clothing market housed in a rotunda dating from 1781.

From 1809, four new wooden pavilions offered lace and silk, white goods and cotton goods, second-hand clothing (the “Pou volant” pavilion), and old leather goods, a trade previously located near the Marché des Innocents. Deemed unsanitary, the pavilions were replaced in 1863 by iron, cast iron, and glass halls, some of which still remain today, built by Mérindol in the style of Baltard's. But the Carreau declined at the beginning of the 20th century, competing with the new Saint-Ouen flea market: the four main pavilions that stretched to the Rue du Temple were destroyed. When the municipality wanted to condemn the two remaining pavilions in 1973, residents and shopkeepers mobilized to force it to back down. Their lower sections, built of solid brick, once displayed red and yellow bricks. The stone frames around the side entrances are remnants of the old rotunda.

TODAY: New Carreau du Temple

Inaugurated on April 25, 2014, the Carreau du Temple hosts more than 50 associations and 40 major cultural, sporting, and lifestyle events, offering an eclectic artistic program of highlights and regular events.

Carreau du Temple, rues Eugène-Spuller, Dupetit-Thouars, de Picardie, Perrée, square of Temple

4 rue Eugène Spuller - 75003 Paris - between Eugène-Spuller Street, Dupetit-Thouars Street, Picardie Street, Perrée Street, and Temple Square