Les+Halles

=Les Halles=

Les Halles was the biggest and most popular central fresh market in the city of Paris, before it’s destruction in 1971. It has since been replaced with the Forum des Halles, a gigantic shopping mall, which is currently undergoing reconstruction. Les Halles was originally enlarged by King Philippe Auguste in 1183 so that merchants who came to the marketplace to sell their goods would have shelter. Les Halles stood for eight- hundred years and sold food to the citizens of Paris the whole time. In the daytime, vegetables would be sold outside in front of the building in front of the massive metal beams. During the evening and night hours, fish and meats would be sold to customers. Thousands of vegetables and meats were sold each day at the market and Les Halles’ popularit actually led to its destruction in 1971. The traffic to and from the marketplace took a huge toll on the city of Paris. Eventually, the fresh market was demolished. The demolition of Les Halles left a huge hole in the ground for many years, until the plan to build a shopping mall was developed. Now in place of what used to be the famous french market stands Forum des Halles, a giant and very popular shopping mall. Les Halles itself was a very famous monument. It was originally made famous by Emile Zola’s famous novel called Le Ventre de Paris. The novel is set in Les Halles and the city around it. The book is part a twenty volume series and was published in 1873, originally in French but was translated into English in 1888. Les Halles was also featured in a few films that captured parts of the demolition and what people thought about it. In 1974 a movie called, T ouche  pas à la femme blanche, featured the demolition sight of Les Halles. In 1977, a documentary collecting the public’s response of the demolition was shot. The opinions were classified as “ a sceptical vision rather than a pure celebration”. Today a shopping mall stands in the place of what used to be one of the most popular and magnificent fresh markets in all of Europe. Les Halles was a beautiful place for the Parisian citizens to buy their groceries and fresh foods. The mall today is also very popular to shoppers. It welcomes about 150,000 visitors per day and with 168 stores there is something for everyone. Les Halles was beautiful and Forum des Halles will hopefully bring as much attention to the city as its original structure did.