Les Halles (; 'The Halls') was Paris' central fresh food market. It last operated on January 12, 1973, after which it was "left to the demolition men who will knock down the last three of the eight iron-and-glass pavilions" and replaced by an underground shopping centre. The hugely unsuccessful and unpopular 1960s modern development together with the unattractive 1980s modern garden on top of it, was demolished yet again in 2010, and replaced by the Westfield Forum des Halles, a modern shopping mall built largely underground and directly connected to the massive RER and métro transit hub of Châtelet–Les Halles. The shopping mall welcomes visitors daily. A major reconstruction of the mall was undertaken in 2010, and the new version of the Forum des Halles was inaugurated in 2018. The 2.5 hectare Canopy was opened on 5 April 2016. In 2017, the Forum des Halles was the second most visited shopping mall in the Paris region with 42 million yearly visitors. History The market of the Little Fields In the 11th century, a market grew up by a cemetery to the northwest of Paris in an area called the Little Fields (). This was mainly a dry goods and money changing market. A bishop briefly took control of the market before sharing control with Louis VI in 1137. In 1183, Philip Augustus took full control of the market and built two market halls — — to protect the textiles. He also built walls around the market, including land which had recently been confiscated from exiled Jews that originally belonged to the church. When he then built walls around the city, these embraced the market, which quickly became the city's largest (and, over time, went from being at the edge of the city to at its center). Officially, it would remain a dry goods market for centuries, but food stalls soon grew up around the main buildings and by the 15th century food prices at les Halles were being cited as significant for the whole city. The market would have ups and downs over the coming centuries and was rebuilt more than once. Over time, an increasing number of halls were built explicitly for food, but the dry goods market remained central to the (increasingly cramped) space. The wholesale market The church of Saint-Eustache was constructed in the 16th century. The circular Halle aux Blés (Corn Exchange), designed by Nicolas Le