This guide offers a thoroughly researched and amply documented historical and architectural study of the Marais. Street by street, sometimes house by house, the author reveals the secrets of its old houses and mansions, its hidden courtyards and gardens, bringing to light this Old Paris that has survived in spite of all the wholesale demolitions, botched restorations and insolent transfigurations. And that awaits exploration.

The guide is divided up into nine copiously illustrated walks, each reflecting a specific historical and topographic reality.

An introduction reviewing the history of the Marais gives an idea of the complex evolution of this quarter that has been changing constantly for the last six centuries.