Place du marché au pain - Troyes

Between the 12th and 13th centuries, the Foires de Champagne took place mainly around the church of Saint-Jean-au-Marché and in the adjacent streets and squares. They specialised in one or more types of trade: second-hand clothing, pepper, poultry, manufactures, salt, etc.

The money changers, often Jewish or Lombard (Northern Italian), many of whom had lived in Troyes for generations, are also located on this square . Nearby, on the rue de la Montée-des-Changes, the Hôtel des Angaiselles was built for a Lombard banking family.

Merchants from all over Europe brought their own money, but at the fairs only the coins of the Counts of Champagne or the King of France were used. Using precision scales, the money changers weighed the coins , measured their precious metal content and calculated their exchange value. These transactions were taxed and were an important source of income for the county.

With the decline of the fairs in the 14th century, this square was taken over by market gardeners and herbalists (it was then called Place du Marché-aux-Herbes ) and then in the 17th century by bakers. That is how it got its current name.

Willem Vandenameele