Fire has ravaged Paris’s oldest surviving covered food market, a popular street food venue dating back to the 17th century in the Marais district of the French capital that drew thousands of locals and tourists daily.

Ariel Weil, the central Paris mayor, ​said the Marché des Enfants ‌Rouges had been “totally destroyed” in the blaze, which broke out soon after 3am. “The worst was avoided: the fire did not spread to the surrounding buildings,” he said. “But there is a lot of emotion. A lot of sadness.”

The market was established in 1615 during the reign of Louis XIII and took its name from a nearby orphanage, the Hospice des Enfants Rouges – founded in 1536 by King Francis I and his sister Marguerite de Navarre – whose child residents were habitually dressed in red.

The structure was listed as a historic monument in 1982 but narrowly escaped demolition shortly afterwards when Paris city hall, led by the then mayor, Jacques Chirac, approved radical redevelopment plans that would have replaced it with an underground car park, a council daycare facility and community centre.