The museum is located in the former royal palace. The Louvre Museum was officially opened in 1793.
About 38,000 works of art were exhibited on the exhibition area of ​​over 60,000 square meters. The Louvre's full resources are 350,000 exhibits.
The exhibits collected at the Louvre Museum were assigned to eight collections:
The art of ancient Egypt - e.g. "The Great Sphinx",
The art of ancient Greece and Rome - e.g. "Venus of Milo", "Nike of Samothrace",
Art of the Ancient Near East - e.g. Hammurabi Codex document, figure of the goddess Nephthys,
Islamic art - e.g. Vase Barberini, Josse's Shroud,
Sculpture - e.g. Antonio Canova's Cupid and Pyche, Michelangelo's Dying Captive,
Painting - works of the best French, Flemish, Dutch or German painters, above all Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa",
Art Craft - e.g. Harbaville Triptych, Polyptych with Mary and Baby Jesus,
Drawing and Graphics - e.g. Eugène Delacroix drawings and watercolors.

Center Pompidou opened in 1977.
The Center Pompidou houses one of the world's most important collections of modern and contemporary art. There are also large temporary exhibition galleries and a library.

Musée d'Orsay opened to the public in 1986. In 2010, the Musée de l'Orangerie joined the Musée d'Orsay.
The collection mainly contains French art from 1848–1918: painting, sculpture, photography and furniture. Among the collections of paintings, the most popular are the works of impressionists and post-impressionists, e.g .:
- Paul Cézanne - Card Players (1893–1896), Apples and Oranges (1895–1900);
- Edgar Degas - Absinthe (1875–76), Blue Dancers (1890);
- Paul Gauguin - Self Portrait with Yellow Christ (1889–1890), Tahitian Women on the Beach (1891);
- Édouard Manet - Olimpia (1863), Breakfast on the grass (1863);
- Claude Monet - Saint-Lazare Train Station (1877), cycle Cathedral of Rouen (1892–93), Water Lilies (1916–19);
- Auguste Renoir - Ball at Moulin de la Galette (1876);
- Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - Toilet (1896);
- Vincent van Gogh - Portrait of Dr. Gachet (1890).

Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie was officially opened in 1986.
It covers an area of ​​150,000 square meters.
Specializes in the dissemination of scientific and technological knowledge. It consists of, among others, Explora, planetarium, and IMAX cinema. The museum also has an Argonaute submarine from 1958.
Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie combined with Palais de la Découverte (2010) in the Universcience (EPIC status).

In March 2021, the Grand Palais closed its doors to enter a major renovation phase. This will last until the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games for the Nave and surrounding galleries, and until June 2025 for the rest of the building. 121 years after its creation, the Grand Palais is writing a new page in its history.

Entrée principale de la Nef du Grand Palais © Chatillon Architectes pour le GrandPalaisRmn, 2020

Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac founded in 2006.
The museum collects ethnographic objects, art, photographs, documents, musical instruments, textiles from Asia, Africa, the Americas and Oceania.
The entire collection includes over 1360,000 exhibits, of which 3,500 are exhibited.
The exhibitions cover 40,600 square meters.

Army Museum opened in 1905.
Permanent exhibition area: 9,800 square meters, temporary exhibition: 600 square meters. Number of exhibits around 500,000.
It is divided into two parts; the first presents weapons and armor created between the 13th and 17th centuries, the second presents weapons and vehicles from World War I and II.

Petit Palais founded in 1900.
Petit Palais - City of Paris Fine Art Museum presents collections of: medieval and Renaissance paintings and drawings, furniture from the 18th century, works of French artists of the 19th century (among others: Ingres, Delacroix, Courbet, Monet, Cézanne, Modigliani, Rodin).

Petit Palais vu du Grand Palais © Didier Messina, 2013

Notre-Dame de Paris (Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris) was constructed between 1163 and 1345, taking nearly 200 years to complete. It is one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture.
Key Features of the Style:
- Pointed Arches: Used in windows, doors, and vaults for structural and aesthetic reasons.
- Ribbed Vaults: Allowed for higher ceilings and more complex roof designs.
- Flying Buttresses: First used extensively at Notre-Dame, these external supports countered the lateral thrust of the tall walls, enabling larger windows.
- Rose Windows: Notable circular stained-glass windows, especially the North and South Rose Windows.
- Sculptural Decoration: Richly adorned with gargoyles, statues of saints, and scenes from biblical stories.
Notre-Dame embodies the transition from Romanesque to Gothic architecture, blending intricate design with engineering innovation.
Notre-Dame de Paris is treasured not only for its architectural grandeur but also for the historic artifacts and symbolic significance it houses. Here are some of the most valuable aspects:
1. Religious Relics
Notre-Dame is home to some of the most sacred Christian relics:
- Crown of Thorns: Believed to have been worn by Jesus Christ during his crucifixion. It is the most famous relic housed at Notre-Dame.
- Fragment of the True Cross: Allegedly a piece of the cross on which Jesus was crucified.
- One of the Holy Nails: Said to have been used in Christ's crucifixion.
These relics are preserved in a specially designed reliquary and are venerated by pilgrims worldwide.
2. Stained Glass Windows
- The Rose Windows (North, South, and West) are masterpieces of Gothic art, dating back to the 13th century. They depict biblical scenes and saints in vivid colors and intricate patterns.
- These windows are not only beautiful but also an invaluable record of medieval craftsmanship and artistry.
3. Sculptures and Statues
- The Gallery of Kings: A series of statues depicting 28 biblical kings of Judah, positioned above the entrance portals.
- Gargoyles and Chimeras: Functional as rainwater spouts and symbolic protectors of the cathedral.
4. The Great Organ
- One of the largest and most famous pipe organs in the world, with five keyboards and nearly 8,000 pipes, some dating back to the 18th century. It is a cornerstone of Notre-Dame’s musical heritage.
5. The Bells
- The cathedral’s bells, especially the great bourdon bell "Emmanuel", have been iconic symbols of French history, ringing during major national and religious events.
Overall Dimensions:
- Length: 128 meters
- Width: 48 meters
- Height of Towers: 69 meters
- Height of the Spire: 96 meters

Musée de l'Orangerie opened in 1927. In 2010, it joined the Musée d'Orsay.
Musée de l'Orangerie exhibits Claude Monet's Water Lilies cycle consisting of 8 panels, each 2 meters high and 91 meters long, arranged in 2 oval galleries. In the Musée de l'Orangerie you can also see paintings by other Impressionists and Post-impressionists, such as Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
Area of 6,300 square meters.

The Fondation Louis Vuitton (FLV) opened in 2014.
The museum is dedicated to contemporary art. The museum's collection will include works by artists such as Gerhard Richter, Christian Boltanski, Jeff Koons, Jean-Michel Basquiat.
The FLV manages the Espace Louis Vuitton. The Espace Louis Vuitton is an exhibition place encouraging creation of new contemporary artworks in Tokyo, München, Venezia, Beijing, Seoul and Osaka..

© Iwan Baan / Fondation Louis Vuitton, 2014

The National Museum of Natural History (MNHN) was founded in 1635 as a royal garden of medicinal plants, formally founded in 1793. It has 68 million specimens in its collection.
MNHN is divided into:
Garden of plants
- Gallery of Evolution
- Cabinet of Virtual reality
- Paleontology and comparative Anatomy Gallery
- Mineralogy and Geology Gallery
- Botanical Gallery
- Grandes Serres du Jardin des Plantes
- Ménagerie, the zoo of the Jardin des Plantes
- Amphithéâtre Verniquet
- Grande Galerie de l’Évolution Auditorium
- Children’s Gallery
Museum of mankind
Zoological park of Paris
Versailles Chèvreloup Arboretum
Haute-Touche animal reserve
Jean-Henri Fabre museum
Botanical garden Val Rahmeh-Menton
Pataud shelter
Concarneau Marine Biology Station and Marinarium
La Jaÿsinia alpin garden
Paléosite de Sansan

Musém national d'Histoire naturelle © F-G Grandin MNHN

Sacré-Cœur (Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre) Roman Catholic church and minor basilica.
Sacré-Cœur was built between 1875 and 1914 from travertine limestone.
The style of the building refers to Roman-Byzantine architecture with Neo-classical elements.
The mosaic above the choir, titled The Triumph of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is one of the largest mosaics in the world.
Length 85 metres, width 35 metres, height 83 metres.

The Eiffel Tower built in two years by Gustave Eiffel for the World Exhibition in 1889.
It is a wrought iron truss tower.
The height of 330 meters. At the base, on a square plan with a side of 125 meters. The tallest building in the world from its inception to 1930.
On the third floor platform you can see a reconstruction of the wax museum type, showing Gustave Eiffel receiving Thomas Edison.

The Panthéon was built between 1758 and 1790. Designed by architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot, it is a landmark example of Neoclassical architecture that blends classical Greek features with the structural lightness of the Gothic style. Originally commissioned by King Louis XV as a church dedicated to Saint Genevieve, it was repurposed during the French Revolution as a secular mausoleum for distinguished French citizens.
The Panthéon is the final resting place for over 70 esteemed French citizens who shaped the country's history and culture. Honorees include celebrated literary authors, scientists, politicians, and resistance heroes. Famous figures buried in the crypt include:
- Writers: Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Émile Zola, and Alexandre Dumas.
- Scientists: Marie Curie (the first woman interred on her own merit) and Pierre Curie.
- Inventors & Thinkers: Louis Braille (inventor of the reading system for the blind).
- Historical Icons: Jean Moulin (French Resistance leader) and Simone Veil (Holocaust survivor and political advocate).
Building dimensions:
- Length: 110 meters
- Width: 84 to 85 meters
- Height: 83 meters at the peak of its dome

The Musée des Arts Décoratifs (MAD) dates back to 1882.
It also includes the Musée Nissim de Camondo and the Ecole Camondo.
The collection includes original interior architecture, furniture, tapestries, wallpapers, ceramics and glass, as well as toys from the Middle Ages to the present day. It contains numerous works in the Art Nouveau and Art Déco styles. The collection is supplemented by rare examples of fashion, design and objects from the Middle East.
MAD owns over one million artifacts.

© MAD Paris - Photo Luc Boegly

A benchmark institution for modern and contemporary art

This is one of Europe’s greatest art museums. Located on Chaillot Hill in a building whose architecture is emblematic of the Art Deco period, the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris is ideally suited to close-up study of the works on display. Its exhibitions and collections, which contain over 15,000 works in all, cover a period stretching from 1900 to the present day. The Musée d’Art Moderne was designed for the Paris International Exhibition in 1937 and is housed in the Tokyo Palace’s east wing.
Officially inaugurated in July 1961, the origins of its collection date back to the early years of the 20th century, the result of a long series of initiatives taken by the City of Paris and such acts of generosity as Doctor Girardin’s bequest in 1953, which was the real deciding factor behind the decision to open the Museum, and the historic donations by Mathilde Amos in 1955 and Germaine Henry–Robert Thomas in 1976.
Since the end of the Second World War, the Museum has acted as a trendsetter on behalf of a great many movements and artists: its programming is distinguished by its dynamism, originality and scientific rigour. Curiosity and the eye’s mobility ensure that the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris remains an institution sensitive to the evolution of society, its concerns and its crises.


Major artists in the history of art

The MAM’s collections contain a total of 15,256 works by 2,322 artists and present the main artistic trends from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day, illustrated by major artists in the history of art, including Picasso, Dufy, Modigliani, Derain, Picabia, Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Suzanne Valadon, Christian Boltanski, Annette Messager, Philippe Parreno, Peter Doig, Elaine Sturtevant, Nina Childress, Danh Vo, Sheila Hicks and Judit Reigl. The Museum also possesses a number of rare and truly remarkable in situ works, including the first two versions of Matisse’s La Danse (The Dance), created in 1932 and 1931-1933, and Raoul Dufy’s La Fée électricité (The Electricity Fairy), a monumental work covering 600 square metres!
Marked by major monographic exhibitions devoted to such artists as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Sonia Delaunay, Andy Warhol, Bernard Buffet, Sarah Moon, Victor Brauner and Hans Hartung, the Museum’s programming is guided by the need to create a balance between exhibitions sure to be a success with the public, historical retrospectives focusing on internationally acclaimed artists, and exhibitions devoted to artists and artistic trends still little known in France.
The institution also provides unexpected reinterpretations of art history, taking an innovative and very well documented approach, with such exhibitions as “Deadline” (2009), “L’Art en guerre” (Art at War – 2012), and “outsiders” projects highlighting such figures as Robert Crumb, Carol Rama, Henry Darger and Paula Modersohn-Becker, and the aesthetic ties and bonds of friendship between three artists in “Derain, Balthus and Giacometti” (2018), and the married couple Anni and Josef Albers. By taking an unconventional but critical look at contemporary visual creation in the 20th and 21st centuries, the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris has confirmed its role as a “trailblazer”.


Key figures

13,500 m2 of museum surface area
600 m2 Raoul Dufy’s La Fée électricité (The Electricity Fairy), one of the largest paintings in the world
600,000 visitors on average every year
+ 400 works exhibited free of charge
+ 15,000 works in the collections


© : Louise Allavoine