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Archives Nationales Review
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Archives Nationales
Libraries, Le Marais
Fodor's Review:
The National Archives are a history buff's fantasy; they hold thousands of historical documents dating from the Merovingian period to the 20th century. The highlights are the Edict of Nantes (1598), the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), the wills of Louis XIV and Napoléon, and the Declaration of Human Rights (1789). Louis XVI's diary is also here, containing his sadly ignorant entry for July 14, 1789, the day the Bastille was stormed and when, for all intents and purposes, the French Revolution began: "Rien" ("Nothing"). Even if you're not into history, the buildings themselves are worth seeing. The Archives are housed in two elegant mansions built in 1705 by trendsetting architect Alexandre Delamair: Hôtel de Soubise, once the grandest house in all of Paris, and the Hôtel de Rohan, built for Soubise's son, Cardinal Rohan. As you enter the main courtyard, check out the medieval turrets to the left: this is the Porte de Clisson, all that remains of a 15th-century mansion. Decorative arts mavens flock to this museum for special exhibits and to see the apartments of the Princess de Soubise. Her rooms were among the first examples of the rococo, the light-filled, curving style that followed the heavier Baroque opulence of Louis XIV.
INFO
- Address: 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, Le Marais, Paris
- Phone: 01-40-27-60-96
- Web site
- Cost: EUR 3
- Open: Mon. and Wed.-Fri. 10-5:30, weekends 2-5:30
- Metro: Rambuteau
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