The Journées du Patrimoine return to Paris and the Île-de-France region for the weekend of September 20 and 21, 2025. Every year, this European cultural event invites us to enjoy a wide range of activities, often free of charge, at the heart of the most beautiful museums, monuments and châteaux. A unique way to discover our heritage!
Heritage Days 2025 is also an opportunity to discover exceptional places that are rarely accessible to the general public. Such is the case of theÉcole Nationale des Beaux-Arts de Paris, an emblematic institution dedicated to art education. Normally, only students have access to the school. But during the Journées du Patrimoine, the Beaux-Arts open their doors to you, and you can visit this superb building listed as a historic monument. You won't want to miss it!
From thehemicycle d'honneur painted by Paul Delaroche, to the Augustins chapel, the Palais des études and its glass courtyard, and the library, this two-hectare site in the heart of Paris is a condensed version of the architectural and artistic history of the last 200 years.
The Beaux-Arts de Paris open the doors of their listed buildings, usually closed to the public.
The Beaux-Arts de Paris, heir to the Royal Academies of Painting and Sculpture, is at once a place of artistic training and experimentation, an exhibition and conservation center for historical and contemporary collections, and a publishing house. Set in an exceptional two-hectare site in the heart of Paris, just a stone's throw from Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the establishment boasts a condensed architectural heritage, from the 17th-century Petits-Augustins chapel to the 20th-century Auguste Perret building.
The cour du mûrier (mulberry tree courtyard) takes its name from the tree planted by Alexandre Lenoir in the convent's former cloister. Duban rebuilt the cloister in 1836, transforming it into an antique atrium lined with arcades and adorned with a fountain. He completed the décor with Pompeian-style paintings and casts of the Parthenon frieze, running halfway up three sides.
A central fountain, marble statues of antiques beneath arcades, Italian-inspired frescoes, casts of the Panathenaeus frieze, a joisted ceiling and a mosaic floor all contribute to the rich polychromy of this bucolic setting.
The Cours d'Honneur, Bonaparte and du Mûrier courtyards, as well as the Chapelle des Petits-Augustins, the Amphithéâtre d'Honneur, the Amphithéâtre du Mûrier, the library, the Palais des Études and its glass courtyard will also be open to visitors.
The Beaux-Arts de Paris open the doors of their listed buildings.
Beaux-Arts de Paris staff will guide you for an hour into the heart of one of the oldest art schools in the world. Immerse yourself in the life of the school and rediscover art history, architectural heritage and history in the making.
Relive the history of art in the amphitheater of honor, or "Delaroche's hemicycle", which owes its fame to its monumental mural. François Debret and Félix Duban erected it between 1820 and 1841, as the final point of the progression in the architecture of the Beaux-Arts de Paris, starting from the entrance at 14 rue Bonaparte, following an axis that successively evokes the Italian, Greek, Latin and French arts. This symbolic axis led the best students to the consecration of the Grand Prix, known as the Grand Prix de Rome, awarded in the honorary amphitheater.
François Debret, the school's architect, followed a classical approach, close to the Pantheon in Rome. He was followed by Félix Duban, who evolved the style with rich, colorful decorations. The parquet floor, inlaid with wood species such as oak, mahogany, ebony, wengue, amaranth and maple, forms geometric slabs. Under the vaulted ceiling, molded wooden ribs compartmentalize plaster casings, decorated with polychrome geometric motifs enhanced by gilding. Inscriptions evoke Italian and European schools.
Today, the Beaux-Arts de Paris holds its annual graduation ceremony here, and regularly invites personalities from all walks of life for debates designed to nurture the curiosity of 21st-century artists.
Guided tours also take in the Chapelle des Petits-Augustins, the Cour du mûrier, the Cour d'Honneur, the Palais des études and its glass courtyard.
The Beaux-Arts de Paris open the doors of their listed buildings.
Rediscover art history with an introductory lecture to the exhibition Rosso et Primaticcio: renaissance à Fontainebleau, opening at the Beaux-Arts de Paris on October 20, 2025.
Led by Hélène Gasnault, curator in charge of the drawings collection and co-curator of the exhibition.
Amphithéâtre des Loges, subject to availability.
The Beaux-Arts de Paris, heir to the Royal Academies of Painting and Sculpture, is at once a place of artistic training and experimentation, an exhibition and conservation center for historical and contemporary collections, and a publishing house. Set in an exceptional two-hectare site in the heart of Paris, just a stone's throw from Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the establishment boasts a condensed architectural heritage, from the 17th-century Augustin Chapel to the 20th-century Auguste Perret building.
From the 19th century to May 68, from academicism to the avant-garde, the Beaux-Arts de Paris have been witnesses and players of their time for 200 years.
The Beaux-Arts de Paris open the doors of their listed buildings.
Rediscover art history with a lecture on "Ruins, fragments and architectural utopias in the collections of the Beaux-Arts de Paris", by Alice Thomine-Berrada, Head of Collections and Curator of Paintings, Sculptures, Objects and Furniture.
Amphithéâtre des Loges, subject to availability.
The Beaux-Arts de Paris, heir to the Royal Academies of Painting and Sculpture, is at once a place of artistic training and experimentation, an exhibition and conservation center for historical and contemporary collections, and a publishing house. Set in an exceptional two-hectare site in the heart of Paris, just a stone's throw from Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the establishment boasts a condensed architectural heritage, from the 17th-century Augustin Chapel to the 20th-century Auguste Perret building.
From the 19th century to May 68, from academicism to the avant-garde, the Beaux-Arts de Paris have been witnesses and players of their time for 200 years.
Dates and Opening Time
From September 20, 2025 to September 21, 2025
Location
Beaux-Arts de Paris
14 Rue Bonaparte
75006 Paris 6
Prices
Free
Official website
www.beauxartsparis.fr
