Musée Carnavalet — Attraction in Paris

The Musée Carnavalet is a fascinating museum in Paris dedicated to the history of the city. Located in the historic Marais district, it occupies two grand hôtels particuliers (townhouses): the Hôtel Carnavalet and the Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau. These buildings, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, provide an elegant and fitting setting for a museum that celebrates Paris’s rich and vibrant past.

Established in 1880, the Musée Carnavalet holds an extensive collection of art, artifacts, and archival materials that tell the story of Paris from its origins through to the present day. Its displays span prehistoric artifacts, medieval relics, and objects from modern times, with particular emphasis on pivotal periods such as the French Revolution, the Belle Époque, and the 20th century. The museum also features works by well-known artists who lived and worked in Paris, including paintings, sculptures, and furniture.

One highlight of the collection is the display of original items and documents from the French Revolution, such as objects belonging to revolutionary figures, political memorabilia, and engravings depicting key events. Visitors can also see a range of iconic signs, like shop and inn signs from old Paris, which offer a glimpse into the daily life of the city’s residents centuries ago.

After a significant renovation, the museum reopened in 2021 with improved exhibition spaces and updated interactive displays, making it even more engaging for modern visitors. The Musée Carnavalet offers a unique journey through Parisian history, capturing the spirit and evolution of one of the world’s most iconic cities. Admission to the permanent collections is free, making it an accessible and enriching experience for all who wish to explore...

Musee Carnavalet is one of fourteen city of Paris museums and is located in The Marais. Permanent exhibitions are free to visit in this museum, which comprises of two former mansions, the Hotel le Peleteier de Saint Fargeau and the Hotel Carnavalet, for which the museum finds it name.

This museum originally opened in 1880 and was most recently expanded in 1989. It features a chronologically arranged series of rooms displaying excellent French paintings, sculptures, engravings and furniture. The museum begins with Prehistoric and Gallo-Roman Paris periods and passing through the Medieval, Renaissance, 17th century, Louis XV, Louis XVI, Revolutionary, 19th and 20th century Paris eras.

While rooms dedicated to a much earlier and younger Paris are fine, it is the rooms highlighting Paris from around the Renaissance period onward which we found most enjoyable. The museum houses over 2600 paintings from the 16th century, offering you hours of works to examine and enjoy. The museum also features some remarkable furniture and decorative rooms. We very much enjoyed the decorative 20th century Ballroom of the Hotel de Wendel, the exquisite Art Nouveau decor of the Fouquet Jewelry Boutique display and Louis XV's Room.

Overall, this is a wonderful collection that is well worth visiting while in Paris. The Museum can be visited comfortably in around 2-2.5 hours. However, enthusiasts can easily pass much more time here, our visit was slightly over 3 hours and we moved at a fair speed through the various collections.

Hint: You can also visit the Musee Cognacy-Jay, which is just around the corner. This museum concentrates on 18th century art and furniture and makes a nice complementary attraction to the Musee...

Second visit to this museum

The Carnavalet Museum - History of Paris, is the Parisian municipal museum dedicated to the history of Paris from the origins of the city to the present day. It is located in the Marais district at 23 rue Sevigny in Paris, in the 3rd arrondissement, and presents collections on various topics: memories of the French Revolution, historical paintings, sculptures, furniture and decorations from the 17th and 18th centuries. Artworks, prints, etc.

The museum consists of the Hotel Carnavalet itself, and the Hotel Le Pelletier in San Fargo, connected by a gallery located on the first floor. Its visitable areas represent an area of 3,900 square metres, meaning a road length of 1.5 km. In addition, there are temporary exhibition spaces (360 m2). 3,800 works and objects are on display in the permanent exhibition. Among the 100 rooms that make up this route, there are 34 with decorations dating mainly from the 17th and 18th centuries. These rooms, sometimes called "period rooms", constitute one of the museum's idiosyncrasies.

The museum holds more than 625,000 works, objects and documents diverse in nature: furniture, objects of decorative art, paintings, sculptures and archaeological collections, but also photographs, manuscripts, autographs, posters, prints, drawings, coins, medals and small objects of history and memory.

The museum also preserves and displays collections related to the history of art and the...