History & Archaeology Museums
Whether you’re interested in the history of France; or have a penchant for artefacts discovered in archaeological digs, Paris’ museums deliver…
Ghislain118
The history of France is recounted via a mosaic of museums in Paris: from the founding of Lutetia (the Gallo-Roman name for Paris) in Roman times to France's role in the Second World War and the creation of its postal service. Check out this list of recommendations…
Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme
It's fitting that a museum of Judaism should be lodged in one of the grandest mansions of the Marais, for centuries the epicentre of local Jewish life. It sprung from the collection of a private
- Hôtel de Saint-Aignan, 71 rue du Temple, 3e
Musée National de la Marine
Sail back in time through 400 years of French naval history. Highlights include the Océan, a 19th-century sailing vessel equipped with an impressive 120 cannons; a gilded barge built for Napoleon;
- Palais de Chaillot, 17 place du Trocadéro, 16e
Musée des Arts et Métiers
The 'arts and trades' museum is, in fact, Europe's oldest science museum, founded in 1794 by the constitutional bishop Henri Grégoire, initially as a way to educate France's manufacturing industry in
- 60 rue Réaumur, 3e
The Louvre
The world's largest museum is also its most visited, with an incredible 8.5 million visitors in 2009. It is a city within the city, a vast, multi-level maze of galleries, passageways, staircases and
- Rue de Rivoli
Musée National du Moyen Age - Thermes de Cluny
The national museum of medieval art is best known for the beautiful, allegorical Lady and the Unicorn tapestry cycle, but it also has important collections of medieval sculpture and enamels. There is
- 6 place Paul Painlevé, 5e
Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle
At the Natural History Museum's Grande Galerie de l'Evolution, stuffed creatures parade majestically through their various habitats. Animals of all kinds teach children about the diversity of nature
- 36 rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire, 2 rue Buffon et 57 rue Cuvier, 5e
La Conciergerie
The Conciergerie looks every inch the forbidding medieval fortress. However, much of the façade was added in the 1850s, long after Marie-Antoinette, Danton and Robespierre had been imprisoned here.
- 2 boulevard du Palais, 1er
Musée de la Poste
From among the uniforms, pistols, carriages, official decrees and fumigation tongs emerge snippets of history: during the 1871 Siege of Paris, hot-air balloons and carrier pigeons were used to get
- 34 boulevard de Vaugirard, 15e
Musée de la Monnaie de Paris
Housed in the handsome neo-classical mint built in the 1770s, this high-tech museum tells the tale of global and local coinage from its pre-Roman origins, using sophisticated displays and
- 11 quai de Conti, 6e
Musée de la Préfecture de Police
The police museum is housed in a working commissariat, which makes for a slightly intimidating entry procedure. You need to walk boldly past the police officer standing guard outside and up the steps
- 4 rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, 5e
Cité Nationale de l'Histoire de l'Immigration - Palais de la Porte Dorée
Set in the stunning, colonial-themed Palais de la Porte Dorée (built in 1931 for the World Colonial Fair), the permanent collections here trace over 200 years of immigration history. There are
- 293 avenue Daumesnil, 12e
Les Invalides & Musée de l'Armée
Topped by its gilded dome, the Hôtel des Invalides was (and in part still is) a hospital. Commissioned by Louis XIV for wounded soldiers, it once housed as many as 6,000 invalids. Designed by Libéral
- Esplanade des Invalides, 7e
La Crypte Archéologique
Hidden under the forecourt in front of the cathedral is a large void that contains bits and pieces of Roman quaysides, ramparts and hypocausts, medieval cellars, shops and pavements, the foundations
- 7 parvis Notre-Dame, 4e
Bibliothèque Nationale de France - Richelieu & Musée du Cabinet des Médailles
The history of the French National Library began in the 1660s, when Louis XIV moved manuscripts that couldn't be housed in the Louvre to this lavish Louis XIII townhouse, formerly the private
- 5 rue Vivienne, 2e
Musée d'Histoire de la Médecine
The history of medicine is the subject of the medical faculty collection. There are ancient Egyptian embalming tools, a 1960s electrocardiograph and a gruesome array of saws used for amputations.
- Université René Descartes, 12 rue de l'Ecole de Médecine, 6e
Arènes de Lutèce
This Roman arena, where wild beasts and gladiators fought, could seat 10,000 people. It was still visible during the reign of Philippe-Auguste in the 12th century, then disappeared under rubble. The
- Rue Monge, rue de Navarre ou rue des Arènes, 5e