Merciers Street

The Rue des Merciers, in La Rochelle

The Rue des Merciers is the oldest shopping street of La Rochelle, lined with the famous arcades and picturesque medieval half-timbered houses. The La Rochelle audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this artery of the old centre, a former place of market and sale of cloth in the Middle Ages, one of the most charming of the town.

The oldest shopping street and its arcades

This pretty street served in the Middle Ages for the food market as well as for the sale of cloth and linen, hence its name of Rue des Merciers. It is the oldest shopping street of La Rochelle, and commerce was taken very seriously there. It is moreover the craftsmen and the merchants who had the famous arcades built that you see in several streets of the old centre: ready for anything to shelter and protect their stalls from the bad weather, they endowed the town with these covered galleries, inherited from the Middle Ages, that make all the charm of La Rochelle. A boon for the inhabitants of today, who can stroll from shop to shop without getting wet on rainy days. During your crossing, do not forget to raise the eyes: several houses of the street are magnificent medieval half-timbered dwellings or fine Renaissance façades, adorned with gargoyles, sculpted figures and picturesque details, that tell the merchant prosperity of the town. The Rue des Merciers, still commercial and lively, remains one of the most lively of the old town, where shops, cafés and restaurants follow one another under the arcades. While walking along it, you go back in time to the merchant Middle Ages of La Rochelle. An old street and a merchant gallery, the Rue des Merciers is a fine stop of the discovery of the town.

What to see

Here you discover the oldest shopping street of La Rochelle, a former place of market and sale of cloth in the Middle Ages, lined with the famous covered arcades built by the merchants to shelter their stalls; you must raise the eyes to admire its medieval half-timbered houses and its Renaissance façades adorned with gargoyles and sculpted figures. The Rue des Merciers is an emblematic street of La Rochelle. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Rue des Merciers lies in the heart of the old centre of La Rochelle, reachable on foot. It is a shopping street freely accessible, lined with arcades, shops and cafés, and old houses. You walk along it during a stroll in the old town.

Why is the Rue des Merciers of La Rochelle famous?

Because it is the oldest shopping street of the town, a former place of market and sale of cloth in the Middle Ages, lined with the famous covered arcades built by the merchants to shelter their stalls; it keeps magnificent medieval half-timbered houses and Renaissance façades adorned with gargoyles and sculpted figures.

Where is the Rue des Merciers in La Rochelle?

In the heart of the old centre of La Rochelle, in France.