Musée Carnavalet, Paris

The Carnavalet Museum in the Marais neighbourhood is dedicated to the history of Paris from the Middle ages up to the present day. 

Possessing the biggest collection in the city, the museum occupies two grand buildings, the Hôtel Carnavalet and the former Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau. 600,000 exhibits are displayed over more than 100 rooms and 62 sections. Mostly a history museum, the musée Carnavalet is also an art gallery with many original works. It shows through paintings, sculptures and other decorative arts how the city has been changed and influenced by momentous periods such as the Wars of Religion and the French Revolution. Each room is decorated to reflect the historical period through the panelling and furniture.

In 1866 at Baron Haussmann’s instigation, the Paris city council bought the hôtel Carnavalet to house the new institution. The building was originally constructed in 1548 and altered by François Mansart in the seventeenth century.  Madame de Sévigné, a French aristocrat and literary figure famous for her series of letters to her daughter, lived there from 1677 to 1696.

The 17th-century Hôtel le Peletier was added to the museum in 1989 to contain the larger part of the museum's 20th-century interiors. Among the more remarkable items on show are Madame de Sévigné's Gallery, The 20th-century Ballroom of the Hôtel de Wende, an ancient recipe for frog-leg soup, and Robespierre's final Letter. The Musee Carnavalet is complemented by Jean Goujon’s beautiful sculptures on its facades and a superb statue of Louis the XIV in the main courtyard at the entrance of the museum.

 © Paris Tourist Office - Photographe : Marc Bertrand
© Paris Tourist Office - Photographe : Marc Bertrand
 © Paris Tourist Office - Photographe : Marc Bertrand
© Paris Tourist Office - Photographe : Marc Bertrand
Musée Carnavalet
Musée Carnavalet

Opening Hours

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