Musée des Archives nationales - Paris    Share

Very interesting place, especially the rooms with the old furniture. Definitely worth visiting for people who are staying longer in Paris, but not a must see for the first time in Paris.

The Musée des Archives Nationales, formerly known as the Musée de l'Histoire de France (French About this sound (help·info)), is a state museum of French history operated by the Archives Nationales. The museum features exhibitions drawn from the collections of the government archives and aims to provide document-based perspective on France’s history and the evolution of French society. It is housed in the Hôtel de Soubise in the Marais neighborhood in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, France. It was first established under Napoleon III in 1867 with the direction of Léon de Laborde. The Hôtel de Soubise was first built in 1371 as the Hôtel de Clisson and later acquired by the Ducs de Guise. In 1705, it was rebuilt by architect Pierre-Alexis Delamair (1676–1745) for François de Rohan-Soubise and Anne-de Rohan Chabot, with little remaining of the original structure but its turreted medieval gateway which is now the only surviving remnant of Parisian private architecture from the 14th century (see image). The adjoining Hôtel de Rohan was built at the same time. In 1808 both buildings were acquired by the state, after which Napoleon designated the Hôtel de Soubise for the Empire Archives and the Hôtel de Rohan as the National Printing House (which so remained until 1927). Léon de Laborde, an archeologist and prolific author documenting artists, museum collections, and French history, served as the General Director of the Empire Archives from March 1857 to April 1868. He was chiefly responsible for setting up the museum relating to the archive collections. The museum officially opened on July 19, 1867 after de Laborde spent years collecting and selecting documents, then developing a classification and numbering system.

Really interesting. Lots of cool historical documents.

What nice place! I went to see the exhibition Mobile/Immobile, which is fantastic, with the guided tour gave me a very interesting background information. Additionally, you can see several historical documents, some with more than 1500 years! Nice place to go!

Stumbled upon this building while out walking in Paris one day in September 2013. There are some really nice portraits upstairs that they also made into postcards. Beautiful historical buildings surrounded by lovely gardens full of hibiscus and other flowers. Nice to walk around the grounds on a sunny day.