Join us on September 20 and 21 for the Journées du Patrimoine 2025! As every year, this 42nd edition will give you the chance to visit some of France's most famous and little-known cultural sites: museums, monuments, cinemas and neighborhoods.
All these tours are free of charge , and even give you the chance to open the doors of places that are sometimes closed to the public. It's time to quench your thirst for culture, and why not bring the whole family along for the ride?
And what better way to immerse yourself in the country's heritage and culture than at the Sorbonne? This cradle of education, built in 1251 for the first building and 1635 and 1884 for the next two, is home to the rectorat de l'académie de Paris and the chancellerie des universités de Paris. Above all, it's here that some 20,000 students attend courses at the Faculté de Lettres. Its amphitheatres, and in particular its library, give it the air of a veritable museum, and it would be a shame not to see it!
The Académie de Paris is home to a number of vocational high schools and art schools specializing in fashion and elegance, decorative arts, photography and imaging, design, woodworking, etc., offering a rich catalog of demanding training courses, from featherwork to boilermaking, cabinetmaking, leatherwork, jewelry, glassmaking, etc. These include the Lycée des métiers Lucas de Nehou (5th and 14th arrondissements), the INJS (Institut national des jeunes sourds de Paris, 5th arrondissement) and the Lycée des métiers Marie Laurencin (10th arrondissement). These include Lycée des métiers Lucas de Nehou (5th and 14th), INJS (Institut national des jeunes sourds de Paris, 5th), Lycée des métiers Marie Laurencin (10th), Lycée des métiers Dorian (11th), Lycée des métiers Paul Poiret (11th), lycée des métiers Turquetil (11th), École Boulle (12th), lycée professionnel Chennevière Malézieux (12th), lycée polyvalent Elisa Lemonnier (12th), lycée Corvisart-Tolbiac (13th), EREA (Établissement régional d'enseignement adapté) Croce Spinelli (14th), ENSAAMA (École nationale supérieure des arts appliqués et des métiers d'art) Olivier de Serres (15th), Lycée professionnel Brassaï (15th), Lycée des métiers Fresnel (15th), Lycée des métiers Léonard de Vinci (15th), lycée des métiers Octave Feuillet (16th), école et lycée des métiers Auguste Renoir (18th), lycée polyvalent d'Alembert (19th), lycée polyvalent Diderot (19th) and lycée des métiers Hector Guimard (19th).
The prestigious historic spaces of the Palais académique will be the perfect setting for the creations of talented students from some of these establishments, a veritable living heritage. The Grand Salon, for example, will host an exhibition of outfits made and worn by students from the academy during the Lycée de la Mode et de l'Elegance fashion shows, traditionally held in the Grand Amphithéâtre. And there will be many other works to discover along the tour route, including works by member schools of the Campus d'excellence Mode, Métiers d'Art & Design.
Created in 2020 under the impetus of the Académie de Paris and the Île-de-France region, supported by Ensaama and forming part of an exceptional partnership with Mobilier National - also a founding member - the Campus, a unique forum for reflection and exchange in France, is a driving force in the development and promotion of excellence in training. Conceived as a veritable incubator, it brings together several thousand students in pre- and post-baccalaureate courses, in line with the needs of the creative sector.
The rectorat de l'académie and the chancellerie des universités de Paris have thus chosen to support the development of multi-disciplinary vocational training, for better learning and easier integration into working life. They would like to thank the schools that are generously lending the works created by their students for the European Heritage Days.
The Sorbonne and the Palais académique will be opening their doors to the public for the upcoming European Heritage Days. From lounges to amphitheatres, from Richelieu's tomb in the chapel to the majestic Jacqueline de Romilly room in the library, discover one of the university's most beautiful "Patrimoine architectural" Hic et ubique terrarum - "Here and everywhere on Earth", as its venerable motto goes!
The European Heritage Days are an opportunity for everyone to travel through the history of the Sorbonne and admire the architectural and artistic marvels that symbolize this mecca of knowledge and learning. The itinerary, featuring explanatory panels and works by students from Parisian high schools and art schools, will enable visitors to discover some of the Sorbonne's most prestigious and historic sites.
Entering the heart of the Palais académique, visitors will be able to admire the great hall with its monumental statues of Archimedes and Homer, one representing the sciences and the other the humanities, and the peristyle, adorned with murals illustrating the history of the humanities and sciences, in which some unusual "ghosts" are hiding, the Salon Richelieu and its treasures, the Grand Salon, the Salle des Actes and the solemn Salle des Autorités - which will be hosting an exhibition of university gowns for the occasion - from which visitors will be able, like the great doctors and professors who have come to the Sorbonne from all over the world over the years, to take to the stage of the majestic grand amphitheatre.
You'll also be able to enjoy the latest works to make their debut here. Following a commission from the rectorat de l'académie de Paris and the chancellerie des universités de Paris, stencil artist Christian Guémy, aka C215, has created seven contemporary works, which will be inaugurated in May 2019.
The prestigious spaces of the Palais académique will also be the setting for even more contemporary creations, a true heritage in the making: works by vocational school students will be highlighted throughout the tour. Indeed, the Académie de Paris, which boasts a rich catalog of demanding training courses, from plumbers to boilermakers, woodworkers, leatherworkers, jewelers, glassmakers and more, and which can draw on the expertise of its Campus d'excellence Mode, Métiers d'Art & Design, is proud to showcase the work of its young craftspeople!
The European Heritage Days are also a unique opportunity to enter the chapel, whose foundation stone was laid on May 1, 1635 by Cardinal de Richelieu himself. Overlooking the main courtyard, where the restored statues of Victor Hugo and Louis Pasteur stand, it still houses the cardinal's tomb, a masterpiece of classical French funerary sculpture by François Girardon, which has recently been restored to its original splendour. The sumptuous reading room of the Sorbonne's inter-university library, as well as the Louis Liard room and the Richelieu amphitheatre, normally open only to students and researchers, will be open to all.
Finally, once again this year, children and teenagers will be in the spotlight, and will be able to share a playful moment thanks to booklets specifically created for them.
The entire site is accessible to people with reduced mobility, with the exception of the chapel. The entrance for disabled visitors is at 46 rue Saint Jacques.
Once again this year, the Sorbonne is offering an exceptional guided tour of its chapel.
In the heart of Paris's student-focused Latin Quarter stands the symbol of France's oldest university: the dome of the Sorbonne chapel. A major landmark of French classical religious architecture in this student quarter par excellence, the Sainte-Ursule de la Sorbonne chapel (or Sorbonne chapel) is today one of the most emblematic buildings in Paris. Designed by the most talented artists of their time, it houses unsuspected treasures and is a unique example of 17th-century Parisian architecture.
This guided tour will give you the keys to understanding its challenges and revealing some of its secrets, including those of the tomb of Cardinal de Richelieu.
Join us on a journey through time and architecture!
In the heart of Paris' student-focused Latin Quarter stands the symbol of France's oldest university: the dome of the Sorbonne chapel. A major landmark of French classical religious architecture in this student quarter par excellence, the Sainte-Ursule de la Sorbonne chapel (or Sorbonne chapel) is today one of the most emblematic buildings in Paris. Designed by the most talented artists of their time, it houses unsuspected treasures and is a unique example of 17th-century Parisian architecture.
It's in this architectural setting that we invite you to listen to some of the Sorbonne's greatest speeches.
### A jewel of French architecture
The Sorbonne chapel stands on the site of the theological college founded by Saint Louis in the 13th century. It was built between 1635 and 1648, the date of its consecration. Topped by a large dome, it was intended to house the tomb of the Richelieu family, starting with that of Cardinal de Richelieu - an emblematic figure in French history - who had restored the Sorbonne and served as its principal. When, in 1626, Cardinal de Richelieu decided to give the Sorbonne a new face, he chose to make the Sorbonne chapel the heart of the new university. The chapel was designed by Jacques Lemercier (1585-1654), architect to King Louis XIII, and decorated with murals unique in France, painted between 1641 and 1644 on the entire vaulted ceiling of the cupola by the portrait painter and religious Philippe de Champaigne (1602-1674), a major figure of the French school. Philippe de Champaigne also painted the spandrels, the decorative paintings on the lantern and the walls of the cupola in the Sorbonne chapel.
During the French Revolution, the chapel was vandalized, its works dispersed or, worse still, destroyed. It remained in this dilapidated state until 1808. Restored, it was returned to worship for Sorbonne professors until 1906, when the law separating Church and State was passed. On February 10, 1887, the Sorbonne chapel was listed as a historic monument.
Between 1885 and 1901, architect Henri Paul Nénot undertook a lengthy reconstruction of the Sorbonne. It was on this occasion that the foundations of the former 14th-century chapel, destroyed in the 17th century, were found in the courtyard of honor.
The chapel, like the rest of the Sorbonne, became the property of the City of Paris under a decree issued by Napoleon III in 1852, which made it a condition of ownership that the building be used in perpetuity as the headquarters of the Paris Rectorate and several faculties, as is still the case today. In 1957, the Paris Administrative Court decided to remove the chapel's religious vocation, and its conservation is managed by the City of Paris.
The chapel's roof was damaged by a storm in 1999, causing major damage to part of the vaults and facings, and necessitating a new closure for safety reasons. In 2004, a new restoration campaign was undertaken on the facades and roofs to stop the numerous infiltrations that were threatening the decorations and vaults of the Sorbonne chapel. This latest campaign was completed in 2008.
17 years later, the chapel has just been selected as one of the 25 World Monuments Watch 2025 sites. This nomination marks a decisive step in the restoration and reopening of this emblematic monument to France's architectural and intellectual heritage.
Journées du Patrimoine 2025 in Paris (75): full schedule of visits by arrondissement
For the Journées du Patrimoine 2025 in Paris, the capital's historic and artistic monuments and landmarks are opening their doors (often free of charge) to let us in on their secrets. Don't miss this not-to-be-missed event, scheduled for the weekend of September 20 and 21, 2025, on the theme of "Architectural Heritage". [Read more]
The historic monuments of Paris and the Île-de-France region open their doors to you for the 42nd European Heritage Days. This Saturday, September 20 and Sunday, September 21, 2025, come and discover these jewels of history, through attractive programs for the whole family. [Read more]
The Journées du Patrimoine 2025 is a chance to rediscover Paris and its monuments in a whole new light. During the third weekend of September, September 20 and 21, 2025, we invite you to take a stroll around the Latin Quarter. [Read more]
Dates and Opening Time
From September 20, 2025 to September 21, 2025
Location
La Sorbonne Paris
Quai de la Sorbonne
75005 Paris 5
Prices
Free
Official website
www.pantheonsorbonne.fr
Booking
www.pantheonsorbonne.fr
Journées du Patrimoine 2025 in Paris (75): full schedule of visits by arrondissement
Journées du Patrimoine 2025: not-to-be-missed historic monuments in Paris and the Île-de-France region
Journées du Patrimoine 2025 in the Latin Quarter: the weekend program of events in Paris
