The Ghost Mall in Montparnasse

The Ghost Mall in Montparnasse

The first shopping centre in Paris was opened in 1972 at the foot of the Montparnasse Tower.
Originally known as the “Montparnasse shopping centre”, it changed names for “Montparnasse Rive Gauche” in 2015.

The Galeries Lafayette was the major attraction until 2019, but the locals have always been very critical of the 9-hectare expanse of concrete due to its lack of accessibility and aesthetics.

Sole survivor

C&A did survive but visitors and shoppers have deserted the rest of the shopping centre. Direct access to the Montparnasse metro station didn’t suffice to keep the mall alive. And don’t even think of using the escalators! Self-service kiosks are also useless but every now and then, one can spot a lonely visitor in the empty corridors.

The display coming soon signs in the empty shop windows are either comical or very sad, depending on how you see it. If human beings stopped visiting the mall long ago, the stairs and courtyards of the shopping centre are now swarming with pigeons. It’s much of a dreary scene then, yet, down the stairs you can still make good bargains.

The photographs and slideshow is by Yann Gourvennec of antimuseum.com. We generated the music with Suno.com.

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