23, rue de Sévigné 75003 Subway station : Saint-Paul Phone : 01 44 59 58 58 Fax :01 44 59 58 10
At the heart of the fashionable right bank Marais district in Paris, the Carnavalet museum (Musée Carnavalet in French) occupies a superb 1548 palace and is devoted to the history of Paris. The Hotel Carnavalet was built in 1548. It has beautiful sculptures by Jean Goujon on its facades and a superb statue of Louis the XIV in the main courtyard at the entrance of the museum.
The vast Carnavalet Museum, devoted to the history of Paris, occupies two adjoining mansions (the Hôtel Le Peletier de St-Fargeau and the Hôtel Carnavalet). They include entire decorated rooms with panelling, furniture and many works of art.
Some particularly interesting exhibits are :
- Madame de Sévigné's Gallery;
- The 20th century, Ballroom of the Hôtel de Wendel;
- The Charles Le Brun Ceiling;
- The Hotel d'Uzès Reception Room;
- An ancient recipe for frog-leg soup, and;
- Robespierre's final Letter
Carnavalet Museum : History
The main building, The Hôtel Carnavalet, was built as a town house in 1548 by Nicolas Dupuis. The Hôtel Carnavalet is a Renaissance jewel that in the mid-1600s became the home of writer Madame de Sévigné. The 17th century Hôtel le Peletier was added to the museum in 1989 to contain the larger part of the museum's 20th century interiors.
