Heritage Days 2023: tours and exhibitions at the National Archives in Paris

Published by Rizhlaine de Sortiraparis, Laurent de Sortiraparis, Cécile de Sortiraparis · Photos by Laurent de Sortiraparis · Published on September 16th, 2023 at 03:54 p.m.
For this 39th edition of the Journées du Patrimoine, the Archives de Paris will be opening its doors to visitors on Saturday September 16 and Sunday September 17, 2023, with tours of its private mansion and exhibitions.

For the Journées du Patrimoine 2023, the beautiful site of the Archives nationales de Paris opens its doors to us in the heart of the Marais district. Join us on Saturday September 16 and Sunday September 17, 2023 , in the 4th arrondissement of Paris, to enjoy the permanent collections and exhibitions. It's free and open to the whole family , 6-7 years and up.

Created at the time of the French Revolution, the National Archives are responsible for collecting, preserving and promoting the State's central archives. Nearly 300 linear kilometers of archives, from the 7th century to the present day, are preserved here. Today, they are located at three sites: Fontainebleau, Paris and Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, the latter having been opened to the public in January 2013. The Pierrefitte-sur-Seine site, designed by architect Massimiliano Fuksas, is dedicated to archives dating from after the French Revolution, and houses almost 180 linear kilometers of public and private archives accessible in the reading room.

As for the event itself, this 40th edition of the Journées du Patrimoine is an opportunity to discover the history of numerous museums, institutions and establishments in France.

The program for the Journées du Patrimoine 2023 at the Archives Nationales de Paris :

  • Meeting with the Fondation du Patrimoine
    September 16th and 17th

    The Fondation du patrimoine is France's leading heritage charity, with a mission to promote the knowledge, conservation, identification, preservation and enhancement of heritage, whether public or private, protected as a historic monument or not, local or of national or international interest. Since its creation in 1996, it has supported more than 35,000 restoration projects throughout France.
    The Fondation du patrimoine and the Archives nationales have launched a fund-raising campaign, open to all, in support of the restoration of the salons des cardinaux and their remarkable 18th-century decor at the Hôtel de Rohan.



  • Paris Design Week: KO-TONE Spiral Xylophone and Echo Stratum, by INVISI
    September 16th and 17th

    INVISI Ltd brings together a dozen sound designers who create sound objects with the aim of raising awareness of what is invisible to the naked eye, through sound and music. "We make the 'Invisible' visible". Two installations are presented in the courtyard of the Archives nationales: a xylophone and a sound bench. On the frontiers of art, design and music, the xylophone is powered by the natural energy of gravity: as it falls on the steps, the ball plays music. Occasionally, it escapes the steps and falls to the ground, a movement that makes us want to catch it, as if it were alive.



  • Nature des fonds à dos de girafe. Installation by Johnny Lebigot
    September 16th and 17th

    Plastic artist Johnny Lebigot takes over the Great Staircase, the Princesse de Soubise salons and the windows of the historic library overlooking the Assy gardens. Sculptures, installations and plastic devices, his poetic works, created from plant, animal and mineral materials, enter into dialogue with the decor of the baroque salons and the archives, both in their materiality and in their sensitive evocation.



  • Quiz and clearance sale at the National Archives
    September 16th and 17th

    Quiz for adults and children on the exhibition "Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette and the Revolution". Lots of prizes to be won!
    Books, inventories, catalogs, postcards produced by the National Archives, at reduced prices!



  • Exhibition "Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette and the Revolution. The Royal Family at the Tuileries (1789-1792)".
    September 16th and 17th

    Comprising over one hundred and fifty original documents and objects, the exhibition traces the royal family's stay in a palace that has now disappeared, and evokes the political and personal aspirations of the king and queen as France adopted its first written constitution. The contextualization of recently deciphered passages from the secret correspondence between Marie-Antoinette and the Count de Fersen sheds further light on a key episode in French history.



  • Les Grands Dépôts des Archives nationales - descriptive and tactile tours for the visually impaired
    Saturday, September 16, 10:30 a.m.

    Prestigious buildings housing medieval and Ancien Régime archives, the Louis-Philippe and Napoleon III repositories are only open on rare occasions. This is an opportunity for visitors to discover the Iron Cabinet and some of the founding documents that have been specially brought out of their boxes: Merovingian and Carolingian charters, the standard metre, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.



  • The Hôtel de Soubise and the permanent exhibition at the Archives nationales
    September 16th and 17th

    Come and discover the rocaille decor of the Prince de Soubise's apartments. Designed by architects Delamair and Boffrand, it has housed the Archives nationales since 1808. On the first floor, the permanent exhibition showcases a selection of archival documents in a variety of media and forms (folios, rolls, registers, iconographic documents, etc.). The site's composite gardens were redesigned by landscape architect Louis Bénech.



  • Remarkable" exhibition cycle. The Templar interrogation scroll (1307)
    September 16th and 17th

    The presentation and contextualization of the immense scroll in which the interrogation of the Templars by the Inquisitor of the Kingdom of France was transcribed plunges us into one of the most fascinating "cases" in history. This exhibition inaugurates a new cycle, the "Remarkables": exceptional documents in terms of form, content, actors and objects referred to.
    During the European Heritage Days, you can vote on site to choose the next three documents in the cycle!



  • Vehicle exhibition in partnership with the Fédération Française des Véhicules d'Époque
    September 16th and 17th

    Echoing the vehicle exhibition on the Pierrefitte-sur-Seine site, come and admire a model representative of the early days of the French automotive industry. Fans of automotive history can find historical resources at multiple entry points in the archives of the French National Archives, for example those of the Administration du Commerce et de l'Industrie and the Service des Mines.



  • The Grands Dépôts of the French National Archives
    September 16th and 17th

    Prestigious buildings housing medieval and Ancien Régime archives, the Louis-Philippe and Napoleon III repositories are only open on rare occasions. This is an opportunity for visitors to discover the Iron Cabinet and some of the founding documents that have been specially brought out of their boxes: Merovingian and Carolingian charters, the standard metre, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.



  • The Hôtel de Rohan and the decor of the Orleans Chancellery
    September 16th and 17th

    Following an exceptional restoration campaign, four salons from the Hôtel de la Chancellerie d'Orléans, demolished in 1923, have been reassembled on the first floor of the Hôtel de Rohan. The guided tour reveals the extraordinary history of these decorations, the pinnacle of refinement and decorative originality in the second half of the 18th century.
    On the second floor, the famous Cabinet des Singes and Cabinet des Fables are also part of the tour.



  • Workshop for young audiences - "Medieval calligraphy".
    September 16th and 17th

    Like the copyists of the Middle Ages, discover the art of writing on parchment with ink, pen or calamus.



  • Meeting with the National Archives' museography workshop
    September 16th and 17th

    The museography workshop mounts and frames documents for exhibitions at the Hôtel de Soubise and the Pierrefitte-sur-Seine site of the French National Archives. Art technicians explain how they ensure that the documents are in place and that the best possible exhibition conditions are respected.



  • Workshop for young audiences - "Seals in the time of the Templars
    September 16th and 17th

    Through the creation of seals, children can discover the place of horses and nature in medieval society. A parallel will be drawn with the exhibition of the Templar interrogation scroll.



  • Les Grands Dépôts des Archives nationales - visit in sign language
    Saturday, September 16, 2:30 p.m.

    Prestigious buildings housing medieval and Ancien Régime archives, the Louis-Philippe and Napoleon III repositories are only open on rare occasions. This is an opportunity for visitors to discover the Iron Cabinet and some of the founding documents that have been specially brought out of their boxes: Merovingian and Carolingian charters, the standard metre, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.



  • Les Grands Dépôts des Archives nationales - tours for young visitors
    September 16th and 17th

    Prestigious buildings housing medieval and Ancien Régime archives, the Louis-Philippe and Napoleon III repositories are only open on rare occasions. This is an opportunity for visitors to discover the Iron Cabinet and some of the founding documents that have been specially brought out of their boxes: Merovingian and Carolingian charters, the standard metre, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.



  • The National Archives Historical Library and the Oppenord Salon
    Sunday, September 17, 2:00 p.m.

    Housed in the Hôtel de Breteuil, the library of the French National Archives holds a rich collection of some 150,000 volumes and several hundred periodical titles relating to the archives and the work of archivists. While its works are listed in the "Sudoc" catalog and accessible to all in the Caran reading room, its oldest premises are only occasionally open to visitors, who will also have the opportunity to discover a beautiful 18th-century salon in the Hôtel d'Assy, the work of Gilles Marie Oppenord.



Don't hesitate: come and discover this emblematic place of the capital.

Practical information

Dates and Opening Time
From September 16th, 2023 to September 17th, 2023

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    Location

    60 Rue des Francs Bourgeois
    75004 Paris 4

    Accessibility info

    Prices
    Free

    Official website
    www.archives-nationales.culture.gouv.fr

    More information
    Open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

    Occupancy forecast
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