The Jewish quarter of the Marais is called the Pletzl, and its axis is the Rue des Rosiers. It is a quarter of falafel counters and bakeries, of an Art Nouveau synagogue and of plaques to children deported in 1942. This is its history, its opening days, and the guided tours of Le Marais that explain it.
A Jewish community first settled in the Marais in the 13th century and stayed until the expulsion of the Jews from France in the century after. After the Emancipation of 1791 a community returned: Jews from Alsace in the early 19th century, then, from the 1880s, Jews from Eastern Europe fleeing poverty and persecution.
They came in waves until the 1930s. Around the Rue des Rosiers and the Place Saint-Paul they built synagogues and opened shops. They called the area the Pletzl, which is Yiddish for a small square.
The war emptied it. More than half of the quarter's Jewish residents were murdered in the camps. The quarter came back to life in the 1960s and 1970s, when Jews from North Africa arrived. The Rue des Rosiers is still the centre of traditional Jewish life in Paris, beside the boutiques and the New York-style diners.
At 10 rue Pavée stands the only Art Nouveau building in the Marais. It is the synagogue of the Agoudas Hakehilos community, designed by Hector Guimard, the architect of the Paris metro entrances. It is still an active Orthodox synagogue.
An antisemitic attack in 1941 damaged part of the facade, which was restored after the war. You see it from the pavement.
The Mémorial de la Shoah is the museum and memorial of the Holocaust in France. It stands at the southern edge of the quarter, towards the river. Entry is free, with no booking.
The Blue Bike ride stops there for about fifteen minutes. No walk in the Marais lists it as a stop, so plan your own visit, and allow at least an hour.
The mahJ, the museum of Jewish art and history, is at 71 rue du Temple, a few streets north of the Rue des Rosiers. It opens Tuesday to Sunday and closes on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. A ticket is €13, free for under-18s. Its full hours and prices are on the museums page.
The mahJ publishes its own walking leaflet of the Jewish Marais, the source of the history above. Pick one up at the museum.
That school carries plaques you should stop for. On 16 July 1942, in the Vel' d'Hiv roundup, 260 of its pupils were arrested with their parents by the French police. They were deported and murdered. Another plaque remembers Joseph Migneret, its head teacher, who hid Jewish children. The garden named for him is on the parks page.
At 7 rue des Rosiers, the front of Jo Goldenberg's restaurant has been kept, though it closed in 2006. It was the target of an antisemitic attack in 1982.
The Rue des Rosiers is the falafel street of Paris. The mahJ's leaflet names the main counters. The four-hour Jewish history walk stops at L'As du Fallafel for lunch, which its listing puts at €15 to €25 and which you pay for yourself.
| Counter | Address | Note |
|---|---|---|
| King Falafel Palace | 26 rue des Rosiers | Named by the mahJ |
| L'As du Fallafel | 34 rue des Rosiers | The lunch stop on the four-hour Jewish history walk, paid by you |
| Chez Hanna | 52 rue des Rosiers | Named by the mahJ |
| Mi-Va-Mi | 23 rue des Rosiers | Falafel, pitas and shawarma |
The NO DIET CLUB food walk meets outside a patisserie on the Rue des Rosiers itself. The tastings walk from Saint-Paul and the full-meal walks also take the street.
The history walks feed you nothing and spend their time on the Pletzl's past. The food walks pass the Rue des Rosiers on a longer route and feed you on the way.
| Walk | Length | Food in the fare | Fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jewish History Tour of Le Marais | 4 hours | None: lunch at L'As du Fallafel is extra | $117 per person |
| Babylon Marais & Jewish Quarter | 2 hours 30 minutes | None | $64 per person |
| Babylon, exclusive version | 2 hours 30 minutes | None | $64 per person |
| NO DIET CLUB food walk | 3 hours | Tastings, around the Rue des Rosiers | $79 per person |
| Secret Food Tours tastings walk | 3 hours to 3 hours 30 minutes | Tastings, with the Rue des Rosiers on the route | $104 per person |
| Do Eat Better full-meal walk | 3 hours 30 minutes | A full meal, with the Rue des Rosiers on the route | $104 per person |
The Babylon walk covers the quarter in two and a half hours with no food. The four-hour walk adds a falafel lunch you pay for yourself.
No walk promises a synagogue visit. The Babylon listings say that entry to any synagogue is restricted for security reasons. If going inside matters to you, ask the operator before you book.
No walk in the quarter stops at the Mémorial de la Shoah either, and no fare includes the mahJ. Both are yours to add. The Mémorial is free, so the simplest plan is a morning walk and an afternoon there, on any day but Saturday. The four-hour walk leaves lunch to you as well, at a falafel counter on the Rue des Rosiers.
The history of the Pletzl, the synagogue's facade, the falafel counters, the school and Jo Goldenberg's are from the mahJ's own leaflet of the Jewish Marais. The synagogue's dates are from its Mérimée record, and the Mémorial's hours from its own page, all checked 20 September 2026. The tours are from each listing.
Four hours on the Jewish history of the district, from the statue of Louis XIII in the royal square. Lunch at a falafel counter is on your own bill, and the minimum age is eleven.
From $117 per person
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Two and a half hours on foot from Saint-Paul, eleven stops from the Jesuit church to city hall, and the Jewish quarter from the street. No food, twelve people at most, rain or shine.
From $64 per person
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Three hours of tastings around the streets of the old Jewish quarter, meeting outside a patisserie there. Ten people at most, and you start where the falafel counters are.
From $79 per person
Check AvailabilityNext: see the Jardin des Rosiers on parks and gardens, the museums on museums in Le Marais, or compare every walk on Le Marais Paris Tours.