La Samaritaine is distinguished by its intricate Art Nouveau ironwork and a series of expansive glass roofs that crown the building ensemble along the Seine. Established in eighteen seventy by Ernest Cognacq and Marie-Louise Jaÿ, the store grew from a small stall selling fabrics on the nearby Pont Neuf bridge into one of the city's largest retail destinations. The name itself recalls a seventeenth-century water pump that once stood on the bridge, which featured a statue of the Samaritan woman from the Gospel of Saint John.
La Samaritaine
monument
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