Passage Giboin

The aim was to link Vichy's shopping area (now Rue Georges Clemenceau) to its thermal spa area, organised around the parc des Sources, creating a shopping mall modelled on those found in major capitals such as Paris, London, and Brussels. This passage, with its long glass roof supported by slender cast iron columns, was originally lined with twenty shops selling music, china, jewellery, curiosities, engravings, and confectionery. At the passage's Rue Wilson entrance, next to the architects' signature, the wrought iron HM monogram bears witness to the former hôtel Mombrun, which closed in 1992 and has now been converted into apartments. It wasn't until 1905 that a second passageway (the current Passage de l'Opéra) was opened to facilitate access to the post office, housed in the former dining room of the Cercle du Commerce et des Étrangers. This small shopping centre then expanded with the addition of five new boutiques.