If you know Paris a little, and visited before 2005, there’s a high chance you went by la Samaritaine, a venerable department store next to the Seine and Pont-Neuf with a gorgeous iconic art deco façade.

Now owned by LVMH (the group behind Louis Vuitton and many, many more luxury brands), the store was closed for ten years because it no longer met safety standards, and then went through five years of work to transform it into not just a department store, but also a nursery, public housing and more.

Now, 151 years after it was founded, la Samaritaine is back, meticulously restored and resplendent, and as it’s not far from our hotels, you should definitely go and take a look!

Here’s a taster, and a little history…

La Samaritaine has been an important part of Paris since 1870, when Ernest Cognacq opened a 48m² boutique. Success came quickly, and four years later he had already expanded to several hundreds of square metres. Finally, in 1900, the Grands Magasins de La Samaritaine were born!

The iconic building next to the Seine was designed by architect Henri Sauvage and dates from 1922. back then, the store was spread over 48,000m². Before closing in 2005 this had been reduced to 30,000m², and today it’s down to ‘just’ 10,000m², but they certainly are spectacular!

The building has been meticulously restored inside and out. A traffic tunnel right next to the building was recently covered over, and now the small planted square in its place is the perfect viewpoint to admire the incredible facade.

Much of the restoration work isn’t immediately visible, but this is perhaps because we have quickly forgotten the state of the building before it closed.

On the Samaritaine’s YouTube page, there are some fascinating little films showing how lino had to be removed from the jaw-dropping staircase, how the new glass tiles were manufactured, how the gorgeous ceramics had been covered with white paint, that the escalators have all been replaced, and ironwork added seamlessly where the floor has been raised for structural reasons.

Work on the facade was equally meticulous. The enamels (fixed to blocks of lava) were completely restored, and the 25% that were missing have been recreated so well that you can’t tell which have always been there and which are brand new.

Once inside, the main stairwell and glass roof are as impressive as ever. And although it’s no longer possible to go up to the roof for the view over Paris (one of the best free treats in town before the store closed), its so great to finally be able to enter this wonderfully restored space.

We hope our photos make you want to go down yourself and see the splendour of the place. The store is spread over seven floors, with beauty in the basement and (pretty expensive) food joints on the top floor. Hopefully you’ll be as impressed and moved as we were 🥰

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La Samaritaine (here) is open seven days a week from 10am-8pm

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Une publication partagée par Samaritaine (@samaritaineparis)