Fire destroys Marché des Enfants Rouges, ‘coolest market in Paris’

‘A lot of sadness’ after 17th century landmark that escaped demolition in the 1980s goes up in flames

Fire has ravaged Paris’s oldest surviving covered food market, a popular street food venue dating back to the 17th century in the Marais district of the French capital that drew thousands of locals and tourists daily.

The market was established in 1615 during the reign of Louis XIII and took its name from a nearby orphanage, the Hospice des Enfants Rouges – founded in 1536 by King Francis I and his sister Marguerite de Navarre – whose child residents were habitually dressed in red.

A determined campaign by local residents and neighbourhood associations, backed by intellectuals, writers and artists including film-makers and photographers such as Bertrand Tavernier and Willy Ronis, who captured its traders on camera, gathered tens of thousands of signatures in protest and the plans were eventually abandoned in the mid-1990s.

While still hosting some traditional stalls including a greengrocer, butcher, cheesemonger and fishmonger, the 1,000 sq m market was mostly given over to more than a dozen stands offering French, Lebanese, Moroccan, Japanese and other street food at the counter or at casual chairs and tables.

Lt Col Pierre de Bouvier of the Paris fire service said much of the metal structure of the market had fallen in, and most of the stalls had gone up in flames. More than 150 firefighters and 50 fire trucks battled the blaze after being alerted at 4.15am, he said, adding that the cause of the fire was not yet known.