Opened to the public in 1880, Carnavalet is the oldest museum in the French capital. Created in the Second Empire under the aegis of the prefect Haussmann, Carnavalet is from start intended to house a museum of the history of Paris, in the Marais district in the heart of a city that is constantly changing and expanding according to the major Haussmann works.
The museum is housed in two adjacent private mansions, Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau mansion and Carnavalet mansion.
Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau mansion was built by the architect Pierre Bullet between 1688 and 1690 on behalf of Michel Le Peletier de Souzy, an important Statesman under Louis XIV. Its orangery and gardens were renowned at the time for their beauty. During the Revolution, the great-grandson of Michel Le Peletier de Souzy, a magistrate, voted for the death of Louis XVI and was later assassinated by a former bodyguard. His daughter sold the mansion in 1811.
It was acquired in 1895 by the city of Paris and initially housed the Historical Library of the city of Paris, before being deserted. Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau mansion was finally annexed to the Carnavalet museum in 1989.
Carnavalet mansion is one of the rare examples of Renaissance architecture. Built in 1560 by Pierre Lescot for Jacques de Ligneris, President of the Parliament of Paris, the building is one of the oldest private mansions in the capital. It was sold in 1578 to the wife (then the widow) of the Chevalier de Kernevenoy, whose name was quickly deformed to “Carnavalet”.
The hotel was acquired by the city of Paris in 1866 and was quickly enlarged and modified in order to comply with its museum purpose: galleries were created and some garden facades incorporated architectural elements coming from demolished buildings. In the same way, several sculptures leave their places of origin to join Carnavalet, the most obvious being that of Louis XIV by Coysevox in the main courtyard of the private mansion.
Renovated and enlarged since 2021, the Carnavalet museum now brings together more than 625,000 works relating to the history of Paris, from Prehistory to the 19th century. The artworks are of different registers – paintings, sculptures, objects, coins, woodwork, furniture – and particularly highlight this famous Parisian spirit that has irrigated the capital since modern times.
Huge and rich, Carnavalet deserves several visits.
March 1st, 2024
