The Horseshoe Gallery shopping arcade

The Horseshoe Gallery shopping arcade perfectly illustrates the sophisticated elegance and vibrancy surrounding Vichy during the Belle Époque.
After the hospital was moved to the outskirts of town, the Compagnie Fermière de Vichy, responsible for completing the park's development and landscaping up to the Hôpital spring, commissioned architects Charles Le Coeur and Lucien Woog to build a horseshoe-shaped shopping arcade around the bandstand. In keeping with the style of the gallery surrounding the park, this complex culminated in a rest room, demolished in 1945, which preceded the spring. Twenty-six stores, mainly dedicated to luxury goods, opened their doors as from the 1899 season.

Most of the stores have preserved their beautiful original interior design, attesting to their occupants' sophistication and upmarket business activity. For instance, gallery owner Pierre Lintilhac (N° 7-8) preferred a resolutely classical style, as did the antique dealer "Au vase de Sèvres", (N° 11-13) who commissioned the architect Antoine Percilly to refurbish his store in the Louis XVI style in 1908. Martin et Lacrampe (N° 17) and Sapio (N° 1), had their jewellery stores modernised in the Art Deco style by Gilbert Brière in 1927 and 1939 respectively.