The Journées du Patrimoine (Heritage Days) take place every year in September, offering a fabulous program of guided and self-guided tours, often free of charge, as well as unique events at the heart of some of our finest heritage treasures.
Museums, monuments, castles, churches, institutions and much more, many cultural venues are playing their part for the occasion, including in the Paris region! While Paris is a real eye-catcher, the rest of the Île-de-France region also has plenty to offer enthusiasts and the curious, with its lesser-known heritage that's well worth the detour!
On the doorstep of Paris, you’ll notably find the town of Sceaux, in the Hauts-de-Seine. Located within easy reach of Navigo, this town famed for its namesake estate is steeped in history. So, on the occasion of the Journées du Patrimoine, culture lovers will be spoiled for choice! So why not take the opportunity to discover the heritage treasures of the town of Sceaux? We’re unveiling here the detailed programme of tours and activities that await you for this 43rd edition of the Heritage Days planned for the weekend of September 19–20, 2026!
Heritage Days 2026: The Departmental Estate of Sceaux (92) unveils its program
On the occasion of the 2026 Heritage Days, the Sceaux Departmental Estate is offering free activities for the whole family, to be enjoyed on September 19 and 20. [Read more]
Sceaux Library
Guided tour of the library's collections and heritage-themed games
Bring the family to explore the library’s heritage collection and peek behind the scenes at areas normally closed to the public.
Game booklet — activities available all day on request
Participation requirements: From 8 years of age. Free admission | Reservation required - 01 46 61 66 10
Schedule: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 11:00 to 12:00
Patrick Roger Chocolate Shop
Self-guided tour of chocolatier Patrick Roger's workshop
Patrick Roger's Workshop
A chocolatier, sculptor and artist, Patrick Roger—named Meilleur Ouvrier de France in 2000 and knight of the Legion of Honour since 2018—opened his first shop in Sceaux in 1997. Today he stands as a fixture of the French cultural scene, as essential to national heritage as craftsmanship is to France’s patrimony. His workshop, the creative hub feeding his Île-de-France boutiques, will be open to the public.
Participation conditions: Free | No reservation required
Schedule: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 10:00 to 18:00
Lakanal School Campus
Classical music concert
The Lakanal School Campus hosts the Charles Koechlin Instrumental Ensemble, conducted by Marc Deleplace, with Jean-Pierre Salmona at the piano, for a program of varied works: Quintet for Winds by Carl Nielsen, Rhapsody by Joseph Jongen with piano, and Sextet with piano.
The concert is organized by the Association of Friends and Alumni of Lycée Lakanal (AAAELLK).
Participation requirements: Registration is mandatory at the Tourist Office. Access via the door at the corner of Allée d'honneur and Avenue Claude-Perrault. Free | Reservation required - 01 46 61 19 03
Schedule: Friday, September 18, 2026 — 8:30 PM to 10:00 PM
Guided tour of Lycée Lakanal
A tour of this prestigious educational institution, built as a model high school starting in 1882. The visit showcases emblematic sites such as the rugby murals (a heritage-listed painting), the war memorial, the gym, the lycée’s park and its remarkable trees, with an added highlight on Saturday afternoon of the science building. There will also be activities with the JJJ Rigal Engraving Association (marking the 100th anniversary of its founder) and the Friends of Jean Couy (paintings).
Saturday: departures at 2:00 PM, 3:00 PM, 4:00 PM and 5:00 PM.
Sunday: departures at 10:00 AM, 10:30 AM, 11:00 AM, 11:30 AM, 2:00 PM, 3:00 PM, 4:00 PM and 5:00 PM.
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes.
Tours organized by the Friends and Alumni Association of Lakanal High School (AAAELLK).
Participation conditions: Registration is mandatory at the Tourist Office. Maximum 30 participants. Meet at the main entrance. - Free | Reservation required - 01 46 61 19 03
Hours: Saturday, September 19, 2026 - 2:00 PM ⤏ 6:30 PM | Sunday, September 20, 2026 - 10:00 AM ⤏ 6:30 PM
Jean Monnet Faculty
Guided tour of the art works at the Jean Monnet Faculty in Sceaux
This 45-minute guided tour of the Jean Monnet Faculty’s art collection is led by Patrice Godard, head of the presentation and preservation of the university’s cultural heritage at Université Paris-Saclay. It will explore works from the 1% artistic program (the Hieronimus mosaic, Dubuisson furnishings), along with recent acquisitions (Lescuyer) and other renowned artists, including contemporary sculptors Macedo, Coutelle, and Féraud, whose heirs have donated monumental pieces to the Jean Monnet Faculty. Internationally acclaimed, they excel in ceramics (Macedo), stone and wood (Coutelle), and stainless steel (Féraud).
departure: September 19 at 3:00 PM in front of the campus main entrance at 54 Boulevard Desgranges in Sceaux
Participation conditions: Limited to 30 people - Free | No reservation required
Schedule: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 3:00 PM to 3:45 PM
Town Hall
Intro to Vintage Photography Workshop
An introduction to the history and techniques of early photography, centered around an authentic large-format camera.
Friday evening, September 18, 2026, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.; Saturday, September 19, from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Participation requirements: Free of charge
Schedule: Friday, September 18, 2026 — 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. | Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Exhibition “Objectif Sceaux: The City and Its Inhabitants in the Black-and-White Era”
The exhibition “Objectif Sceaux. The City and Its Inhabitants in the Black-and-White Era” will kick off both the European Heritage Days 2026 and the Bicentenary of Photography, which will unfold through 2027 with around ten key events.
With more than fifty photographs, most of them unpublished, come and meet our predecessors and their way of life through the eyes of photographers, some renowned, others forgotten.
Exhibition until October 11. Opening on Friday, September 18 at 7 p.m.
Participation terms: Free | No reservation required
Schedule: Saturday, September 19, 2026 – 09:00–12:00, 13:30–17:30 | Sunday, September 20, 2026 – 10:00–12:00, 13:30–16:00
Guided tour of the exhibition "Objectif Sceaux. The City and Its Inhabitants in the Black-and-White Era"
Visiting the exhibition « Objectif Sceaux. The City and its Inhabitants in the Black-and-White Era » will kick off both European Heritage Days 2026 and the Photography Bicentennial, which will unfold through 2027 with a dozen key highlights.
With more than fifty photographs, most of them unpublished, come discover our predecessors and their everyday world through the lens of photographers, either renowned or long forgotten.
The exhibition runs until October 11. The inauguration takes place Friday, September 18 at 7:00 p.m.
Participation requirements: Free of charge
Opening hours: Saturday, September 19, 2026, 10:30 a.m.–2:00 p.m. | Sunday, September 20, 2026, 10:30 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
The Menagerie Garden
Guided tour: Sceaux, Access to Water and Fountains
In the 17th century, Jean-Baptiste Colbert commissions the diversion of the Plessis Picquet waters to feed the water features of his estate. Fountains are offered to the villagers of Sceaux as a precious concession. This free access to water marks the city’s history into the 19th century. Later, the fountains disappear as running water reaches the taps, and they reappear on the village square, where they become the emblem of a neighborhood.
Meet at the entrance to the Ménagerie garden.
Participation requirements: Register at the Tourist Information Office with an audio guide. Maximum 30 participants. Free of charge | Reservation required - 01 46 61 19 03
Schedule: Sunday, September 20, 2026 — 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM
Marie Curie High School
Exhibition “Marie Curie: Then and Now”
Exhibition "Marie Curie: Yesterday and Today" on the high school's outer gates
Guided tours led by student speakers in Visual Arts.
Participation conditions: Free | No booking required
Hours: Saturday, September 19, 2026, 00:00–23:59 | Sunday, September 20, 2026, 00:00–23:30
Visit to Marie-Curie High School
Historical and architectural tour of the Marie-Curie campus, led by student-guides. The roughly one-hour visit will be preceded by a brief slide presentation. These tours are organized by Marie-Curie High School and conducted by its pupils.
Departures every half hour from 2:00 p.m., with the last departure at 5:00 p.m.
Participation requirements: Registration is mandatory at the Tourism Office - Free | Reservation required - 01 46 61 19 03
Schedule: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 2:00 PM to 5:30 PM
André Lurçat's house-studio
Guided tour of André Lurçat's House
Andrée Lurçat, her home, studio and works
The house of architect André Lurçat will be opened to the public and will host a photography exhibition of his architectural projects, as well as the exhibition “Lôtissements.”
https://www.calameo.com/read/003784543474c4cfd4a35
Walk-in and guided tours, no registration required, on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 September 2026.
Guided tours at:
- 9:30
- 10:30
- 11:30
- 14:00
- 15:00
- 16:00
- 17:00
Participation conditions: Departures at 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00 and 17:00. Free | No reservation required
Hours: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 9:30–11:30, 14:00–17:00 | Sunday, September 20, 2026 — 9:30–11:30, 14:00–17:00
Self-guided tour of André Lurçat's House
Andrée Lurçat, her house, studio, and works
The house of architect André Lurçat will be open to the public and will host a photography exhibition of his architectural projects, as well as the “Lôtissements” exhibition.
https://www.calameo.com/read/003784543474c4cfd4a35
Participation requirements: Free | No reservation required
Opening hours: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 10:00 to 12:00, 14:00 to 17:00 | Sunday, September 20, 2026 — 10:00 to 12:00, 14:00 to 17:00
Renaudin Nursing Home
Guided tour of Renaudin Hospital
In the town center, the Renaudin Hospital, built in 1895 by architect Jacques-Paul Lequeux, still stands ready. Decommissioned, it remains an architectural landmark of the pedestrianized heart of the town and a chapter in the history of a Parisian family of architects who settled in Sceaux during the early phases of its subdivisions. It bears witness to the social mission of the Fondation Renaudin and to a slice of the city’s life.
Reservation required at the Maison du tourisme de Sceaux:
> 01 46 61 19 03
Participation conditions: Registration at the Tourism House with an audio guide. Maximum 30 participants. Free of charge | Booking required - 01 46 61 19 03, maisondutourisme@sceaux.fr
Schedule: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM
Sceaux Park
Fanfare from the Police Band
Come and hear the band of the Musique des gardiens de la paix of the Police Prefecture of Paris, with a festive and varied program! On Sunday, September 20, at 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM, in Parc de Sceaux, as part of the Orangerie Festival.
Participation conditions: Free | No reservation required
Schedule: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM, 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Frédéric Mistral Square
A Walk and a Game Based on Old Photographs
The rise of photography sparked the local postcard trade as a means of correspondence. Beyond the château and the Parc de Sceaux, through the seasons, the old views of Sceaux invite observation, investigation, comparison, and the playful game of photo in photo.
Meet at: Place Frédéric Mistral.
Participation requirements: Register at the Tourist Information Office with an audio guide. Maximum 30 participants. Free of charge | Booking required - 01 46 61 19 03
Schedule: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 10:30–12:30
The Blagis neighborhood
Guided tour: "Les Blagis, intercommunal 20th-century artistic heritage"
A walk through an intermunicipal neighborhood that underwent dramatic transformations in the 1950s. The building of public structures integrated artistic creation. Fountains, sculptures, and symbolic concepts sit alongside urban furniture. What do we make of this heritage? Has it been preserved?
Meet at 70 Jean-Perrin Avenue.
Participation conditions: Registration at the Tourism Information Office with an audio guide. Maximum 30 people. - Free | Reservation required - 01 46 61 19 03
Schedule: Saturday, September 19, 2026 - 10:30 ⤏ 12:00
Villa Trapenard
Open Garden: Young People Envision Lucia's Garden at Villa Trapenard
A HERITAGE WORTH KEEPING ALIVE
What could become of the garden of a house built nearly a century ago? How can a monument be preserved while making it suit today’s needs? And might the gestures, sensations, and ideas of children help us imagine its future?
Built in 1932 by Robert Mallet-Stevens and wholly protected as a historic monument, Villa Trapenard now needs restoration—but also continued life.
For European Heritage Days, its outdoor spaces are turning into an open-air, participatory laboratory. Children, teenagers, and families are invited to contribute to the design of the future Jardin de Lucia: a sensory, therapeutic garden that attends to the different ways of perceiving, feeling, learning, remembering, moving, and connecting with others.
IMAGINING WITHOUT HAVING TO DRAW
Understanding a plan, representing a space, or expressing an idea through drawing is not easy—nor natural—for everyone. This day therefore offers other ways to imagine a garden.
In Villa Trapenard’s outdoor spaces, several experiences will run concurrently. Everyone can move around freely, choose the activities that attract them, stay a few minutes or take more time.
There will be no prescribed order or fixed route to complete.
Youth participants will notably be able to:
– become a seed, a plant, a tree, or a shelter through gesture and movement;
– express with their bodies what soothes them, stimulates them, or makes them want to protect themselves;
– build life-size spaces with ropes, fabrics, objects, and materials;
– explore the sounds of water, leaves, wind, and seeds;
– feel plants and choose colors, textures, and atmospheres;
– imagine places to be alone, to be two, or to be in a group;
– test activities related to gardening, observation, memory, and creation;
– indicate what they would like to see in the future garden—and what they would prefer to avoid;
– see how their choices, gestures, and sensations can become real design ideas.
Observing without participating, rejecting a sensation, or preferring a calm activity are also ways to contribute.
The proposals will be guided by a team of volunteers and professionals from fields such as landscape, architecture, arts, and education. Adults will remain with each activity to welcome new participants, explain the rules, and collect their ideas.
This day is a process of discovery and co-design. It is not about care or a therapeutic workshop.
FROM GESTURES TO A GARDEN PROJECT
Throughout the day, participants’ observations and choices will feed a large collective composition. A construction made with ropes, a favored material, a scent rejected, a movement, a photograph, a sound, or an idea for an activity could become concrete guidelines for architects, landscape designers, and future garden facilitators.
The contributions will help reflect on:
– calm spaces and communal spaces;
– light, shade, and shelter;
– the readability of pathways;
– the role of water and sounds;
– plant and material selections;
– the variety of sensory stimuli;
– activities that could be organized in the future garden.
The results of this day will be kept and integrated into the ongoing project.
EXPANDING THE notion of HERITAGE
Today, Villa Trapenard draws attention for its architecture, its history, and its status as a historic monument. But a monument is not merely a building to behold or conserve.
It can become a starting point for interrogating several kinds of heritage:
– the architectural heritage of the house;
– the landscape heritage of its garden and the Sceaux region;
– the living heritage embodied by soils, water, plants, and biodiversity;
– the sensory heritage of sounds, smells, textures, and memories;
– the human heritage of gestures, experiences, and diverse ways of perceiving the world;
– and finally, the heritage we wish to pass to future generations.
Preserving Villa Trapenard thus means not only restoring its architecture with rigor but also rethinking its environment, its uses, and the audiences it can welcome.
A DAY OPEN AND FREE
This proposal takes the form of an open garden rather than a sequence of fixed-time workshops.
Families can arrive at the time of their choosing within the stated hours. Each child may participate in one, several, or all of the experiences offered, in the order they prefer.
The event is primarily intended for young people aged 6 to 17, but parents, chaperones, and visitors with an interest in architecture, landscape, neurodiversity, transmission, and the relationship between nature and well-being are welcome.
Children remain under the responsibility of their accompanying adult.
The event takes place in the property's outdoor spaces. The house will not be open for visits that day.
A small exhibition of plans, drawings, and photographs will present Villa Trapenard’s history, its transformations, and the restoration project. A reading corner and a refreshment area will also accompany the day.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Sunday, September 20, 2026
[11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.]
Free admission, no reservation required, subject to garden capacity.
To help us prepare enough materials and organize welcoming, families are invited—without obligation—to indicate their planned arrival by email: villatrapenard@gmail.com
This notification is not a reservation and does not fix arrival time or duration of participation.
Participation guidelines: Details to follow - Free | No reservation required
Hours: Sunday, September 20, 2026 — 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Dates and Opening Time
From September 19, 2026 to September 20, 2026
Location
City of Sceaux
ville de sceaux
92330 Sceaux
Route planner
Prices
Free
Official website
www.sceaux.fr
