The Northern Marais/Temple Quarter

The Low-down
The Quartier du Temple, located between the Marais, Place de la République and Arts-et-Métiers, was considered to be a bit of a "dead" area, with nothing more than wholesale shops and ateliers for the leather and jewellery industries. But over the past few years things have begun to change. The once quiet, northern section of the Marais neighbourhood is seeing new restaurant, bars and trendy shops opening up as the branché Parisians escape the heavily touristed - and expensive - streets around Rue des Rosiers and Rue des Francs-Bourgeois. This northern push means that more and more ateliers are being snapped up and converted into loft apartments and flats, and the wholesale district around Temple is showing signs of renewed life.

A History Brief
The Quartier du Temple, and many of the streets in the Marias, were once the domain of the Knights of Templar, a religious and military order formed in the 12th-century to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land. By the 13th century, they had over 9000 outposts around Europe, independent from the monarchy or ruling government. Entrusted as powerful bankers, they amassed enough wealth and property - at one time owning ¼ of the land area of Paris-to arouse resentment by the French King Philip the Fair. With the blessing of the Pope in Rome, he had the Templars imprisoned and burned at the stake in 1307, taking 2/3 of the estates for the Crown, and giving the rest over to the Knights of Malta. They, in turn, were cast out during the French Revolution, and the Templar Tower became a prison for the doomed French monarchy. Louis XVI was immediately guillotined, and Queen Marie-Antoinette was transferred to the Conciergerie before it was her turn, leaving the dauphin alone in the Tower before he eventually died. There was a lot of speculation by royalists that it wasn't really the dauphin who left in the coffin, until recent DNA tests proved it.

Temple Today
The Tower was razed in 1808, and the Carreau du Temple market built in its place in 1857 by Baron Haussmann, along with the Mairie for the 3rd arrondissment and the Square du Temple. If you've passed by the Carreau du Temple market (corner of Rue Picardie and Rue Perrée) over the past few years, then you know there's nothing much going on there aside from a few dodgy leather coat stands and the occasional neighbourhood concert. But that's all going to change this winter as the Mairie gives the Carreau a facelift and a new image as a neighbourhood cultural centre. No one's quite sure yet exactly what that means, but the new plans should be revealed by the end of 2004. The nearby Marché des Enfants Rouges (corner of Rue de Bretagne and Rue Charlot) is an example of successful restoration. It's the oldest covered market in Paris, built in 1612 and named for the red uniforms worn by the kids of a neighbouring orphanage. It was almost razed in 1995 to become a parking lot, but after a lot of local outcry it was instead renovated and reopened November 2000. Today there are 15 market stands and a wine bar, with the typical fish, bread, fruit and veggie sellers (open Tues-Thurs 9am-2pm and 4pm-9pm, Fri-Sat 9am-8pm, and Sun 9am-2pm). Just up the street are the lovely gardens of the Square du Temple (corner of Rue du Temple and Rue de Bretagne). Its sandbox and playground are popular with the local mums and their tots, while the nearby Chinese community practice their graceful tai-chi exercises each morning on the grass lawn.

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