European Heritage Days: The Amazing Sites to See in Paris

European Heritage Days are the most widely attended cultural event in Europe; an astonishing 20 million people take part. The annual “open doors” program first originated with the French Ministry of Culture in 1984 as La Journée portes ouvertes dans les monuments historiques, and since 1999 has been under the auspices of the European Union. This continent-wide project presents the opportunity to visit buildings, monuments, and sites which are not readily accessible. Their doors are thrown open to the public in order to instill an interest in cultural heritage and diversity and to counter xenophobia and intolerance. 

For its 41st edition, European Heritage Days will take place between Friday, September 20th to Sunday, September 22, 2024. The subject for the 2024 theme is connections, routes, and networks.

In France, this event is called Journées du Patrimoine. In the Île-de-France alone there are over 1000 participating venues. Parisian places that are usually under lock and key open to the public, including the Elysée Presidential Palace, Matignon (home to the prime minister), the Senate, and the National Assembly. There are also attention-grabbing smaller venues worth a visit. Admission will be free of charge or offered at a reduced rate. Here we’ve assembled a list of top sites to see.

Government and Ministry Buildings

There are many interesting government buildings open for the Journées du Patrimoine. One of which is the Hôtel de Ville de Paris, relatively new (1882) by European standards. It will be opening its door for free tours of the office of the mayor (and intrepid Seine swimmer) Anne Hidalgo. The city hall’s library, council chambers, and magnificent ceremonial rooms will be made available. Curators, restorers, historians, and archeologists will be on hand to present and discuss restoration projects carried on throughout the city. The events at the Hotel de Ville can be found here.  The general website for the Journées du Patrimoine is here. 

There are dozens of other Parisian ministries and institutes open during Journées de Patrimoine. To name just a few, the Ministry of the Interior is located in the Hôtel de Beauveau, the Ministry of Education and Youth is based in the Hôtel du Rochechouart (rue de Grenelle), and the Hôtel de Brienne houses the Ministère des Armées. Please refer to this website for a full list.

Worth visiting too are the foreign embassies within Paris. For the most part, they reveal a once-private lavish history, excellent examples of architecture and abundant gardens. The embassies of Romania, Austria, Finland, for example are all found within a tactful distance of the National Assembly on Paris’s Left Bank. 

Associations

A rare example of medieval Parisian architecture underpins the Maison Ourscamp. First built in the 13th century by Cistercian monks and later  1585, two houses with symmetrical facades were constructed above the storage cellars of an ancient Cistercian monastery and today its vaulted ceiling is on display. These residences, with their half-timbered courtyard are now the headquarters the Association for the Preservation and Enhancement of Historic Paris, whose volunteers saved this house from demolition. Ourscamp house is across the street from 2 other medieval addresses. (Address: 44-46 Rue François Miron, 4th.)

The Académie d’agriculture de France was founded in 1761 and originally housed in a private mansion near the Musée d’Orsay. The Académie d’agriculture will be offering a tour focusing on the origins of agricultural products called On the road to agriculture and food, and will be presenting activities and interactive games focusing on agriculture and food products. Look out for the high flood mark on the building’s entrance at 18, rue de Bellechasse in the 7th.

 

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Museums 

The Musée de la Poste’s temporary exhibition Marathon, la course du messager is an original way to reflect on the theme of networks and routes. Nicolas Debon, renowned cartoonist of comics and children’s books, will be present at a kid’s workshop, where participants learn about comics and are encouraged to draw their own. Reservation by email is recommended: [email protected]. (Address: 4 boulevard de Vaugirard, 15th.)

Located in the heart of Passy, ​​Maison de Balzac is the only remaining Parisian residence of Honoré de Balzac, who made it his home from 1840 to 1847. It’s where the confirmed coffee addict culminated his 16-novel series the Human Comedy and wrote some of his most famous works. There has been a steady acquisition of items relating to the famed writer, including his much-used coffee pot. Two literature professors will be on hand to discuss their recent Balzac-focused books. Fun fact: 21st-century excavations revealed troglodytic dwellings in the cellars! (Address: 47, rue Raynouard, 16th.)

The Museum de Prefecture de Police is housed in the police station of the 5th arrondissement and initiated by the notable chief of  police Louis Lépine. The museum traces the history of the Parisian police from the 17th century to the present day. The 2000 exhibits comprising uniforms, guillotines, weapons, death masks and mugshots evoke the events which the intrepid police took part. (Address: 4 rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, 5th.)

The Pavillons de Bercy, once used for 19th-century wine deliveries and storage, now houses the excellent Musée des Arts Forains. A poignant way of looking at this year’s themes of route and networks is through the concept of the funfair, caravans and itinerant fairground workers. The museum houses a highly recommended collection of wondrous artifacts relating to the circus theme. Guided tours are offered at a preferential rate on Sunday, September 22, 2024 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. You must book online. (Address: 53 Avenue. des Terroirs de France, 12th.) 

 

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Overlooking but Not Overlooked  

That isolated tower looming over the Right Bank is the tower of Saint-Jacques. This gothic tower is the last vestige of the church of Saint-Jacques de la Boucherie. Guided tours introduce the illustrious characters punctuating it history. The names James, Jacques, and Iago all refer to the same saint, and the Tour Saint-Jacques marks one of the historical starting points of the pilgrimage of the Camino Santiago de Compostela. Though its mother church was destroyed in 1783, the tower has been in the middle of a stop-and-start renovation campaign from the mid 1800s until 2012, when it was finally released from its scaffolding. The 54m pinnacle of the Saint-Jacques tower is accessible via a narrow 300 step, spiral staircase and offers a breathtaking view of Paris. The mystical Nicolas Flamel is buried under its floor. (Address: Square Saint-Jacques, 39 rue du Rivoli. 4th.)

The Observatoire de Paris is a major astrophysics research center at one of the oldest observatories in the world and has been in continuous operation for over 350 years. It houses a collection of historical telescopes, astronomical clocks, and celestial globes. The Observatoire welcomes the public to their unique observation terrace with its breathtaking views over Paris. (Address: 77 avenue Denfert-Rochereau, 14th.)

 

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Schools and Libraries 

Doors are open at the Lycée Henri IV, the alma mater for lucky, clever kids. This high school is known for its A-list alumni: Simone Weil, Sartre, Haussmann, and Macron, to name but a few. This lycée is the only French school to have maintained its medieval layout. Its architecture spans the medieval and baroque worlds, and its historic rooms and libraries date from the 12th to 18th centuries. A literal stone’s throw from the high school is the associated library of Saint-Genevieve where hundreds of thousands of examples of rare printed matter, objets d’art, and a cabinet of curiosities are housed under an amazing vaulted ceiling of iron. (Addresses: 23 Rue Clovis, and the library is found at 10 Place du Pantheon, 5th.)

The Paris Faculty of Pharmacy, dating from 1882, houses classrooms, workshops, six amphitheaters, 30 laboratories, which, along with an extensive botanical garden and greenhouses and a pharmaceutical library containing more than 100,000 reference works, can be toured. There is a fascinating quest afoot specifically during the Journées du Patrimone, where visitors try to beat the clock to complete the secret formula on a half-erased piece of parchment. If the formula is not solved within 30 minutes, the secret of the scroll will disappear forever. (Address: 4 avenue de la Observatoire, 6th.)

Don’t let the name fool you – the Arsenal Library founded in the 18th-century by Grand Master of the Artillery, Marquis de Paulmy, is one of the most awe-inspiring and impressive libraries in France. De Paulmy’s collection has grown into a public library with over a million documents. In the 1830s, the Arsenal Library became a society destination where the movers and emoters of the Romantic Period (Hugo, de Musset, Balzac and Delacroix) attended a renowned literary salon, hosted by the resident librarian Charles Nodier. Nodier’s dining room can be visited in this building originally erected by the Duke of Sully. Sully’s bedroom is displayed too. Also on view are the music room with extraordinary narrative paneling, remarkably painted apartments, reading rooms and map room of local interest.

Churches, Shrines and Temples 

To quote Dylan, you’ve got to serve somebody, so to each their own. Most Paris churches are open during the daytime; no problem there. A little more difficult to visit is the city’s cathedral, but Notre Dame has a program in place, too. There is a wide selection of revered sites to see in Paris for those with small-c catholic tastes: temples to art, temples to industry, and just plain, but never boring temples.

Notre Dame 

The craftspeople who aided in the reconstruction of Notre Dame will be on hand in the cathedral’s forecourt recreating a Village en Chantier, or a “construction site village.” Carpenters, stonemasons, cabinetmakers and art restorers, plus the more modern machine operators will attend. There will be participatory areas from children including a Lego®Notre-Dame competition. There will also be a youth choir singing en plein air. 

The Odéon – Théâtre de l’Europe is a temple to the performing arts which dates from 1782 when Marie-Antoinette wanted a new showcase for French tragedies. The Odéon is known for staging important plays like Beaumarchais’ Marriage of Figaro, and great performances by those such as Sarah Bernhardt. The Odéon’s free guided tour ranges from the foyer to the main auditorium and up to the terrace where one can learn how history has changed the theater and influenced its artistic evolution. (Address: Place de l’Odéon, 6th.)

The SNCF’s so-called “rail cathedrals” are an exceptional example of railway heritage in the suburb of Saint-Denis. Built originally for the maintenance of freight trains, the site owes its name to the large glass halls, which look like sad chapels to the Industrial Revolution. Les cathedrales du rail are now listed as historical monuments and, somewhat reminiscent of the renovation of the Musée d’Orsay, are being restored and repurposed. In addition to social housing and eco-responsible pubic spaces, there will be a hip-hop and street art museum called Aérosol. Free visits limited to 25 people per visit. Registration required on https://patrimoine.sncf.com. (Address: 2 chemin des Petits Cailloux, Saint-Denis.)

The Drouot Auction House was purpose built in 1852, at a time when Paris art sales were at a peak, but it’s still non-stop motion at this business, which sells 300,000 art works annually. Drouot is inviting the public to take a behind-the-scenes look into the daily mechanics of their business, on Saturday September 21. (Address: 9 rue Drouot, 9th.)

The Saint-Serge Orthodox Church is a gem of gilding and jewel-like colors hidden of the rue Crimée in an idyllic green setting. For Paris, Saint-Serge is a unique religious complex, designed in the Russian Orthodox style. (Address: 93 rue de Crimée, 19th.) 

Maison Gainsbourg is itself a shrine to French pop icon Serge Gainsbourg. He lived for 22 years in a house on rue de Verneuil. The interiors are preserved intact – thanks to his daughter Charlotte. The outside is a mecca for graffiti and street art. Opened in 2023, a museum retraces the life of Gainsbourg chronologically through a journey comprised of 450 meaningful objects. (Address:14 rue de Verneuil, 7th.)