Museum of the History of Paris (Carnavalet Museum)

Carnavalet Museum

The Carnavalet Museum is a museum dedicated to the history of Paris’s urban development. It is housed in two adjacent mansions: the Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau and the Hôtel Carnavalet. The Hôtel Carnavalet was once home to the famous Madame de Sévigné, a renowned figure in French literary history known for her extensive correspondence, in which she vividly and wittily recounted life at the court of Louis XIV.

The Carnavalet Museum showcases artifacts from various periods of Paris’s history: from the Gallo-Roman city on the Île de la Cité, through medieval development and its rise as an international metropolis, to the French Revolution and the destruction it wrought, the arrival of Napoleon, the revolutions of 1848 and 1870, and the 19th-century Haussmann reconstruction of Paris... All of this history is explained and displayed here, making a visit an excellent journey to understand Paris’s transformation and discover all the glorious eras of French history. Its collections include portraits, relics, souvenirs, a model of the guillotine, a corner of the Bastille prison, the study of Louis XIII, Marcel Proust’s bedroom, and more.

The exterior structures and interior decorations of the ancient buildings housing the Carnavalet Museum have been preserved. You can also admire 18th-century salons and gain a deeper sense of the elegance and luxury of the court during the reign of France’s last few kings.

Carnavalet Museum

Must-visit reason: The best place to learn about the historical development of Paris

Continent where the attraction is located: Europe【Europe】

Country/region where the attraction is located: France[France]

Province/state where the attraction is located: Île-de-France Region [Ile-de-France Region]

City where the attraction is located: Paris [Paris]