It was Félicien Agard (1804-1869), a bourgeois from Aix, lawyer, and director of the Salins du Midi (South Saltworks), who had the idea of creating this pedestrian shortcut between Cours Mirabeau and Place de Verdun. To do this, he purchased the Carmelite convent, which had previously stood on this site and had been declared national property during the Revolution.
In the section of the passage leading to Cours Mirabeau, Félicien Agard had to make do with a narrow corridor, as an arch of the cloister had already been used to build apartments. He is still criticized today for this bottleneck. However, in the section overlooking Place de Verdun, he had a tall and majestic doorway built.
On the first floor of the Sephora store, the ribbed vaults of the former convent church can be seen. The shop to the right of the perfumer's also reveals remains of the place of worship. For one of his birthdays, Félicien Agard, a member of the Aix Academy, received a short poem from one of his colleagues, which kindly criticized the lawyer's nocturnal lifestyle. He was often seen in nightclubs. Drinking, singing, dancing, and making a lot of noise, his love affairs were innumerable. One day it was Phi-Phi, the next, Zézette! Zoë first shouted: "800 years for my birthday, And you're chasing women, making fun of me, You're about to come of age, don't act like a fool, You have to be serious, you're not wise, Agard..."
Excerpt from the book "Everyone Looks for Their Street in the Bouches-du-Rhône," written by Jean-Pierre Cassely, published by Mémoires Millénaires, €15.