Apple Marché Saint-Germain opens in Paris

Apple Marché Saint-Germain, Apple’s first store on the Left Bank and third in Paris, opened today in the historic public market. Clad in Sebastopol Saint Maximin limestone, the new Apple Store blends the original elements with modern design. It’s the first in France to feature many of Apple’s latest retail innovations, including a grove of trees that provides a calming canopy inside the store.

The site dates back to the 1400s, where the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés held the Foire Saint-Germain, a renowned fair that attracted people from all over France from 1486 through the early 1800s. Afterward, the church was rebuilt as the Blondel market, a hotspot for trade in Paris. Around 1860, Napoleon III covered the courtyard to create the structure Parisians are familiar with today.