By Elaine Gangly / AP 

They take out the garbage, sweep stairwells, keep a trained eye peeled for trespassers and listen to gripes, gossip and heartaches, especially among the elderly living alone.

But the inimitable ''concierge'' - the apartment-building guardian who is part maid, watchman, therapist and an institution in France - is vanishing from the country's urban landscape.

With the concierge disappears a centuries-old lifestyle.

Concierges are as much a part of the French identity as baguettes with meals and wine with cheese. The concierge concept is literally built into older buildings _ strategically placed small ground-floor dwellings where they live, and keep a watchful eye on the premises.

But in the past decade, Paris alone has lost at least 10,000 concierges, and France has lost some 100,000 of them.

They are replaced mainly by cleaning companies, according to experts and those behind a campaign to save them.

Photograph: Stock Xchange

The photograph is for representative purpose only.