Located in the heart of Paris, the Marais district's finest hours would coem during the 17th century when the many aristocrats who lived there transformed it into a fashionable district. In the 18th century, the nobility gradually abandoned the district in favor of the Faubourg Saint-Honoré or the Faubourg Saint-Germain.
In spite of this departure, the Marais would always retain its image as an aristocratic district, which meant that, with the coming of the Revolution, rioters would set about destroying the many symbols of royalty and nobility that were found there. *
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* It was a wonderfully convenient sort of one-stop-shop for those of the riotous persuasion.
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With the Revolution, the district changed progressively. The abandoned townhouses were taken up by merchants to form warehouses or workshops. The beautiful homes were thus preserved. And so the Marais became inhabited by more modest people who kept shops or practiced craft trades, which in turn gave way to small factories and semi-industrialized trades of the 19th century.