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Origin and history

The Manif steel covered passage is a typical commercial building of the second half of the 19th century, built in 1869 by architect Gregory Roux. Located in Auxerre in the department of Yonne, it illustrates the economic and commercial expansion under the Second Empire, a period marked by the development of covered passages in the major French cities. Its facades on Fécauderie and Boucheries streets reinforce its urban integration, while serving as an architectural link between these arteries.

This monument was the subject of two successive inscriptions in the title of historical monuments: the first in 1975 for the passage itself, and the second in 2001 for its facades and roofs. These protections underline its heritage importance, both for its architecture and for its role in the urban history of Auxerre. Restoration work was undertaken in 2019, including the skylights, grids and the gallery as a whole, to preserve this testimony of 19th-century commercial planning.

The Manifecier passage is part of a broader movement to modernise French cities in the 19th century, where covered galleries became places of sociability and consumption. In Auxerre, this type of development also reflected the local economic transformations associated with industrialization and the rise of the merchant bourgeoisie. Today, there remains a symbol of this time, while continuing to structure the city's historic urban fabric.

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