The Journées du Patrimoine return for the weekend of September 19 and 20, 2026 in Paris and Île-de-France. Each year, this European cultural rendezvous invites us to enjoy a rich program, often free, at the heart of the region’s finest museums, monuments and castles. A new way to discover our heritage like never before!
The Heritage Days 2026, also a chance to discover exceptional places rarely open to the public. Take, for example, the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts de Paris, this iconic institution dedicated to art education. Normally, only students have access to this site. But during the Journées du Patrimoine, the Beaux-Arts throw open their doors and you can visit this stunning building, listed as a historic monument. You won't want to miss this!
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.
Self-guided tour of the Beaux-Arts de Paris
freely explore the emblematic spaces of the Beaux-Arts de Paris, dive into the life of the school and rediscover art history, architectural heritage and contemporary creation.
Pause a shaded halt in the Mulberry Courtyard, the old cloister of the Petits-Augustins monastery, named after the Chinese mulberry planted there in the 19th century by architect Alexandre Lenoir.
Duban rebuilt the cloister from 1836, transforming it into an antique atrium bordered by arcades and crowned with a fountain. In the Second Empire, he completed the décor with Pompeian-style paintings and plaster casts of the Parthenon frieze, stretching mid-height along three sides.
A central fountain, marble statues of antiquities under the arcades, Italian-inspired frescoes, casts of the Panathenaic Frieze, a beam-and-plank ceiling and a mosaic floor all contribute to the rich polychromy of this bucolic setting.
The Mulberry Court underwent a major renovation (2015–2018) that restored its former splendor.
The Cour d’Honneur and Cour Bonaparte, the Chapel of the Petits-Augustins, the Main Amphitheatre, the Mulberry Amphitheatre, the Morphology Amphitheatre, the Library, the Palais des Études and its glass-roofed courtyard will also be open to visitors.
For the first time this year, the European Heritage Days will also be an opportunity to discover the young creation and the artistic diversity produced by Beaux-Arts Paris students, through studio visits, exhibitions and degree showcases.
Participation conditions: Free admission, no reservation required - Free | No reservation
Hours: Saturday, September 19, 2026 - 10:30 ⤏ 17:30 | Sunday, September 20, 2026 - 10:30 ⤏ 17:30
Guided tours of the Beaux-Arts in Paris
The Beaux-Arts de Paris opens the doors to its historically classified buildings.
The staff of the Beaux-Arts de Paris will guide you for an hour through the heart of one of the oldest art schools in the world. Dive into the life of the school and rediscover the history of art, architectural heritage, and the great sweep of history.
Relive history in the Chapelle des Petits-Augustins, dating from the 17th century, the oldest building at the Beaux-Arts de Paris.
Last surviving part of the Petits-Augustins monastery, founded by Marguerite of Valois (Queen Margot). In 1795, curator Alexandre Lenoir opened the Musée des Monuments Français there—the first museum devoted to French art. He gathered architectural and sculptural elements from the country’s finest monuments.
In 1816, when the museum closed, the site was assigned to the École des Beaux-Arts to train young artists.
The interior houses medieval and Renaissance sculptures, 400 French and Italian plaster casts, and a matching ensemble of painted copies of Italian masterworks that completes the collection.
Today, at the heart of the School’s creative life, the chapel hosts exhibitions, concerts, performances, and hanging installations.
Guided tours will also take you to the mulberry courtyard, the Cour d’Honneur, the Palais des Études with its glassed courtyard, and the grand auditorium.
Participation terms: Free | No reservation required
Schedule: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 10:30–11:30, 13:00–14:00, 14:30–15:30, 16:00–17:00 | Sunday, September 20, 2026 — 10:30–11:30, 13:00–14:00, 14:30–15:30, 16:00–17:00
Conference: The Beaux-Arts de Paris heritage — collections in constant reinvention
The Beaux-Arts de Paris open the doors to their buildings listed as historic monuments.
Rediscover the heritage of the Beaux-Arts de Paris with the lecture “The Heritage of the Beaux-Arts de Paris: collections in permanent reinvention,” led by Alice Thomine-Berrada, head of collections and curator of paintings, sculptures, objects and furnishings.
Amphithéâtre des Loges, entrance subject to seating availability.
The Beaux-Arts de Paris, heirs of the royal academies of painting and sculpture, are at once a training ground and a site of artistic experimentation, a space for exhibitions and the conservation of historical and contemporary collections, and a publishing house. Located on an exceptional site of more than two hectares in the heart of Paris, just steps from Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the institution showcases a fusion of architecture—from the seventeenth-century chapel of the Augustins to the twentieth-century building by Auguste Perret. The Beaux-Arts de Paris also runs a site of more than 1,000 square meters in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine.
From the nineteenth century to May ’68, from academicism to the avant-gardes, the Beaux-Arts de Paris have, for two centuries, been both witnesses and actors of their era.
Participation requirements: Free | No reservation required
Schedule: Sunday, September 20, 2026 — 12:00–12:45
Dates and Opening Time
From September 19, 2026 to September 20, 2026
Location
Beaux-Arts de Paris
14 Rue Bonaparte
75006 Paris 6
Route planner
Prices
Free
Official website
www.beauxartsparis.fr
