PARIS: A fire early on Monday has destroyed the French capital’s oldest covered food market, a popular street food venue named after red-clad orphans, authorities said.

The Marche Couvert des Enfants Rouges in the Marais district, which has existed since 1615, draws its name from the red outfits that orphans wore at a hospital near the market.

The market was given its name at the end of the 18th century after the hospital closed in 1772.

The US magazine Food & Wine had ranked it fifth worldwide for street food this year, after other eating spots in London, Bangkok, the French city of Lyon and Mexico City. The area around the market smelt charred on Monday morning, while a thick layer of firefighting foam covered the pavement in front of one of the market’s entrances, a reporter said. Its main metal gate had survived intact from the blaze.

But beyond the entrance, “the market was completely destroyed”, Lieutenant Colonel Pierre de Bouvier told reporters. “Nothing remains of the covered market,” he said, adding that its metal structure had “partially collapsed” inside.

Authorities said the fire broke out at 3am but the fire brigade did not receive a call until 4:15am. Bernard Geliot, a man who lives opposite the market, said he was woken up by “the noise and the flames” around 4:10am.

Jean-Marc Ferrandery, who managed a cafe inside the market, said he reached a nearby street corner minutes later. “The flames were higher than the rooftops,” he said.

“This market is a gem, a historic place. It’s terribly sad.” The mayor for the central districts within Paris, Ariel Weil, said the fire had wrecked 17 businesses in the market but no neighbouring buildings had been affected.

Paris city mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said the capital would work on relocating vendors to another area “so they can resume their activities as quickly as possible”.

Another Parisian, Martine Laupin, said she was devastated. “This is my neighbourhood. It’s a historic market,” she said.

“It’s the soul of central Paris. It used to be really nice. We would eat standing up. It was part of the heart of Paris.”

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2026