The Journées du Patrimoine invite you once more to in September for a 43rd edition. This year, art and history lovers as well as the curious should mark the dates of 19 and 20 September 2026. During this exceptional weekend, numerous museums, monuments, castles, institutions as well as places normally closed to the public unveil a special program featuring typically free visits and new activities. A wonderful way to rediscover the treasures of our heritage from a fresh perspective.
Paris is naturally at the heart of it, but not the only highlight: the entire Île-de-France region is in on the action as well! So why not take advantage of this opportunity to explore the astonishing places waiting for you in the Île-de-France region?
For a weekend escape that’s easy to reach by public transport, head to the Hauts-de-Seine—specifically the city of Nanterre on the edge of Paris. Here, a lineup of tours awaits to reveal local highlights through a program specially designed for the weekend. We’re unveiling the details of the activities to do in Nanterre for the Heritage Days 2026.
Heritage Days 2026 at the Paris Opera Ballet School in Nanterre
Visit the Paris National Opera Ballet School, located in Nanterre, this Saturday, September 19, 2026, for Heritage Days. Booking opens on September 10. [Read more]
Hauts-de-Seine Departmental Archives
Guided tour of the departmental archives and a conservation room
Discover the Archives’ missions, the conservation spaces normally off-limits to the public, and the techniques of restoration and preventive conservation. Exceptional documents will be pulled from storage and displayed to the public.
Participation conditions: Free visit - Free of charge | No booking required
Hours: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 2:00 PM to 6:30 PM | Sunday, September 20, 2026 — 2:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Guided tour of the exhibition: In Search of Justice. Justice and litigants in Hauts-de-Seine from the 17th century to the present.
Through the archival collections of the provostships and bailiwicks, the exhibition reveals how royal justice was organized across the territory that is now Hauts-de-Seine, from the 17th century up to the upheavals of the French Revolution (1789-1799), which laid the groundwork for contemporary justice. It highlights the social importance of the justices of the peace, who operated from the 19th century until 1958. For almost 170 years, these nearby, conciliatory jurisdictions—established in each canton—stood at the center of daily life for residents. After the judicial reform of 1958 and the administrative reorganization of the Île-de-France region in the 1960s, new judicial services were created in the newly formed Hauts-de-Seine department, including a Tribunal de grande instance in Nanterre. Two focal points are featured. The first examines how judicial cases concerning today’s Hauts-de-Seine territory were covered in 19th‑century press, through the front pages of Le Petit Journal. The second centers on childhood in the justice system, notably through the fonds of the Henri Rollet association, a judge at the Seine’s juvenile court and a pioneer of social and legal action for maltreated or delinquent children.
Participation requirements: Free visit - Free of charge | No reservation required
Timings: Saturday, September 19, 2026 – 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM | Sunday, September 20, 2026 – 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Escape game, the Archives' ghost
Escape game: a mischievous ghost has swiped an ancient document and stashed it in an archival room. You’re locked inside a conservation space for 30 minutes, but plan to stay about an hour.
You’re not in a set, you’re smack in the middle of a kilometer of original documents, immersed in the action as you investigate, gather clues, and crack the puzzles.
In teams, put your logic to the test, along with your teamwork, memory, powers of observation, and curiosity.
Participation requirements: Free of charge, reservation required, teams of 4 to 8 people already formed, children aged 8 and up must be accompanied by adults - Free | Reservation required - archivesdepartementales@hauts-de-seine.fr
Hours: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 2:00 PM–3:00 PM, 4:30 PM–5:30 PM | Sunday, September 20, 2026 — 2:00 PM–3:00 PM, 4:30 PM–5:30 PM
A theatre‑inspired promenade around the exhibition Justice and the Litigants in Hauts-de-Seine from the 17th century to today
Step into the Archives: explore the exhibition and its spaces in a unique, immersive way with the performers from Kalam Theatre. A one-hour tour that's original, interactive and creative.
Participation requirements: Limited to 20 people, advance booking recommended, free of charge - Free | Booking required - archivesdepartementales@hauts-de-seine.fr
Schedule: Saturday, September 19, 2026 - 3:00 PM ⤏ 4:00 PM | Sunday, September 20, 2026 - 3:00 PM ⤏ 4:00 PM
Hospital reception and care centre
Guided tour of the Focus on CASH exhibition: the city’s view of its hospital
Come see, on an exclusive basis, the photographic collection from Nanterre's hospital archives. From the Maison de Nanterre to the CASH, this institution with a uniquely storied past becomes a showcase for photographs that trace its history through the eyes of the city’s photographers.
Exhibition organized by the hospital archives service and the municipal archives service of the city of Nanterre.
Meet at 10:30 a.m. at the pedestrian entrance of the facility, located at 403 Avenue de la République (92000 - Nanterre)
Participation conditions: Free | No reservation required
Schedule: Sunday, September 20, 2026 – 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM
La Contemporaine, library and archives – museum of contemporary worlds
Guided tour of the libraries at the University of Paris Nanterre led by Bruno Gaudin and Christian Hottin
The remarkable architecture of Paris Nanterre University’s libraries
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Bruno Gaudin, a French architect nominated for the 2021 Prix de l'Équerre d’Argent for the Contemporaine building, and Christian Hottin, Chief Conservator of Heritage at the Directorate-General for Heritage and Architecture, present a guided tour of Paris Nanterre University’s libraries. From La Contemporaine to the Edouard Albert Tower, the visit opens the doors to part of the institution’s heritage collections as well as the university library’s new spaces.
Participation requirements: Limited to 15 participants - Booking required | Free - https://www.lacontemporaine.fr/fr/contact/
Schedule: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM
Guided tour of the History Workshop
The Workshop of History, an exhibition by Contemporaine
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### A museum to understand how history is written
How and from which pieces is the history of the present moment written? How did we come to focus on sources that were previously overlooked— newspapers, graphic works, leaflets, photographs, posters, audiovisual material, the web? Why do we seek to preserve traces of our personal or family history? Why do activists gather archives of their commitments? What is the interplay between the historian’s perspective, the activist’s, and the citizen’s? Why and how should these materials be handed down to future generations?
Through a wandering tour of the Contemporaine’s collections—World War I paintings, leaflets, sketches from Liberation trials or notebooks of those who fought in the Algerian War, archives gathered in real time during the Russian Revolution or samizdat from the 1970s–1980s, photojournalists’ work, filmed interviews, militant or association archives—the Workshop of History probes our relationship to contemporary history and its sources.
Participation terms: Limited to 20 participants - Booking required | Free - https://www.lacontemporaine.fr/fr/contact/
Hours: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM
A History of Electricity, Gas and Lighting
MEGE - Report on Electricity, Gas and Public Lighting
In its offices in Nanterre, MEGE (Memory of Gas, Electricity, and Public Lighting) preserves equipment that tells the story of gas and electricity distribution in the Île-de-France region. (see the link https://mege-paris.org/)
There you will discover the evolution of distribution techniques and equipment from the 19th century to today, an extraordinary collection of public lighting bulbs and lanterns, tools, meters, and old documents, notably on safety, as well as numerous scale models. The reproduction of Raoul Dufy’s lithograph The Electric Fairy has been on display since the summer of 2024.
You will see the collections of ancient equipment used to distribute electric and gas energy and to illuminate public spaces and monuments, as well as the evolving devices for metering electricity and gas over time.
Finally, a display of many scale models of vehicles used by distributors over the past 70 years will be presented, alongside everyday objects illustrating the applications of electricity in daily life.
You will be guided during your visit by volunteer electricians and gas technicians who are members of the association and who will share their passion for the distribution trades.
Booklet-game for ages 7-12.
Participation requirements: Admission is free, but booking is mandatory. Groups are limited to 20 people. Participants will receive a named ticket. - Booking required - https://my.weezevent.com/mege-journees-europeennes-du-patrimoine-2026
Times: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 10:00 to 11:30, 14:00 to 15:30, 15:30 to 17:00 | Sunday, September 20, 2026 — 10:00 to 11:30, 14:00 to 15:30, 15:30 to 17:00
Hauts-de-Seine Prefecture
Workshop on official ceremonies and protocol
Come behind the scenes of the Republic’s protocol with a series of workshops offered by the office that represents the State at the prefecture. Official ceremonies, ceremonial seating, the prefect’s role, and how republic-time is organized: staff will reveal the codes and operations behind these essential duties in public life.
Fun, accessible workshops designed for both children and adults.
Discover the full program: https://www.hauts-de-seine.gouv.fr/Outils/Blocs-Accueil/Decouvrez-le-patrimoine-de-la-prefecture/Les-journees-europeennes-du-patrimoine
Participation terms: Limited to 10 participants per session — free of charge | Reservation required - https://my.weezevent.com/atelier-consacre-aux-ceremonies-republicaines-et-au-protocole
Schedule: Sunday, September 20, 2026 — 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Self-guided route through the heart of spaces listed as Historic Monuments
For European Heritage Days, discover a site at the heart of public life.
This edition is special: it’s the last public opening before our move in November.
Thank you for sharing this moment with us in these spaces before their transformation.
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Self-guided visit of the Hauts-de-Seine prefecture’s listed spaces.
Honours Hall – Claude-Erignac
Victor Vasarely tapestry
Reception rooms
Designers: Charlotte Perriand, Le Corbusier, Olivier Mourgue
Bar space & Chateaubriand room
Architecture by André Wogenscky
Conditions for participation: Free | No reservation required
Schedule: Sunday, September 20, 2026 — 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Guided tour of the Departmental Operations Center
A true strategic tool for the prefect, the departmental operational center (COD) is the nerve center of crisis management for Hauts-de-Seine. It is here that all mobilized actors come together—state services, security forces, emergency services, local authorities, and operators—in order to coordinate actions and ensure a rapid, effective response to exceptional situations: major weather events, urban crises, accidents, technological risks, or civil security incidents.
Led by the prefect, the COD centralizes information, tracks the evolution of events in real time, and makes the necessary decisions to protect the population and guarantee the continuity of public action.
Discover the full program: https://www.hauts-de-seine.gouv.fr/Outils/Blocs-Accueil/Decouvrez-le-patrimoine-de-la-prefecture/Les-journees-europeennes-du-patrimoine
Participation guidelines: Limited to 10 participants per session — Free | Booking required — https://my.weezevent.com/visite-commentee-du-centre-operationnel-departemental-1
Schedule: Sunday, September 20, 2026 — 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Guided tour of the prefecture's heritage
Embark on a journey through the history and architecture of the Hauts-de-Seine Prefecture with an exceptional guided tour. This route invites you to explore the grand hall on the first floor, the former spaces of the departmental council, the Claude Erignac Honor Salon, the prefect’s reception rooms, and the prefect’s offices, all offering striking views over the territory and Paris.
Tour duration: about 1 hour.
At the end of the visit, you may, if you wish, extend the experience by taking part in a workshop dedicated to republican ceremonies and protocol in the Claude Erignac Honor Salon, before discovering the departmental operational center, the true nerve center of crisis management in Hauts-de-Seine.
Discover the full program: https://www.hauts-de-seine.gouv.fr/Outils/Blocs-Accueil/Decouvrez-le-patrimoine-de-la-prefecture/Les-journees-europeennes-du-patrimoine
Participation requirements: Visit duration: about 1 hour. Free | Booking required - https://my.weezevent.com/parcours-libre-au-cur-des-espaces-inscrits-monuments-historique
Schedule: Sunday, September 20, 2026 — 10:00 to 15:00
SMGL Nanterre La Folie
In the heart of RER E maintenance, housed in a historic hall more than a century old!
Step behind the scenes of railway maintenance with SNCF technicians, who will guide you through the secrets of the rolling stock: from doors and bogies to air conditioning and the driver’s cab. A rare opportunity to understand the techniques and innovations that keep your trains reliable. You’ll also be able to marvel at the historic hall, inherited from the La Folie Workshops, a technical feat conceived by Simon Boussiron as early as 1912 and today integrated into a modern maintenance facility. A journey that blends industrial heritage with cutting‑edge innovation, set against the backdrop of the 2027 extension of the RER E!
Participation requirements: Registration opens on https://affluences.com/ starting September 3, 2026. See https://patrimoine.sncf.com for the full SNCF Heritage Days program. No wheelchair access available. - Free | Booking required - http://patrimoine.sncf.com
Schedule: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Paris Nanterre University
“Under Street Art, the Louvre” – 2018 murals
For the European Heritage Days, Paris Nanterre University is offering a series of guided tours of its street-art mural routes, delivering a fresh, campus-wide look at its artistic, political, and contemporary cultural heritage.
Built in the 1960s amid the expansion of the Parisian suburban university network, the Nanterre campus has long stood as a space animated by student activism, social change, and collective artistic practice. The university’s walls preserve visible traces of its history—from late-1960s mobilizations to contemporary artistic interventions.
These routes invite visitors to experience the campus as a real canvas of visual expression and collective memory, where contemporary creation, academic history, urban cultures, and political narratives intersect.
The tours are led by a student guide/lecturer who will accompany participants through outdoor spaces and the university’s corridors, unveiling the artworks, their creation contexts, and the stories they tell.
The route “Under Street Art, the Louvre” offers a tour of a collection of murals painted in 2018 as part of a campus artistic valorization project. Inspired by masterworks of classical art reinterpreted through the vocabulary of street art, these works probe the links between high culture and urban cultures.
Through references to Western painting, popular iconography, and mythological figures reimagined, these murals question contemporary uses of imagery, cultural democratization, and the reclaiming of art history in the university’s public space.
The route also addresses issues of conservation, patrimonialisation, and the dissemination of urban art within a university environment that is continually evolving.
Practical information
📍 Meeting point:
In front of the Student House (MDE)
200 Avenue de la République - 92000 Nanterre
Duration: about 1 hour
Capacity: 20 people per tour
Audience: recommended for middle school and high school students and older (ages 12–13 and up)
Participation terms: Free with registration - Free | Reservation required - https://www.billetweb.fr/visites-guidees-street-art-du-campus-de-luniversite-paris-nanterre
Hours: Saturday, September 19, 2026 — 11:00–12:00, 15:30–16:30
“The walls speak: a history of student activism” – Ancient frescoes
On the occasion of the European Heritage Days, Paris Nanterre University offers several guided tours of its street-art mural routes, offering a fresh way to discover the campus through its contemporary artistic, political, and cultural heritage.
Built in the 1960s amid the expansion of suburban universities around Paris, the Nanterre campus has for decades stood as a space shaped by student activism, social change, and collective artistic practices. The university’s walls still bear visible traces of different moments in its history, from late-1960s mobilisations to contemporary artistic interventions.
These routes invite you to explore the campus as a true space of visual expression and collective memory, where contemporary creation, university history, urban cultures, and political narratives intersect.
The tours are led by a student guide-conférencière, who will accompany participants through outdoor spaces and university corridors to discover the artworks, their creation context, and the stories they tell.
“The Walls Bear Witness: A History of Student Activism” – Old Murals
This visit offers a historical stroll across the campus, tracing the old murals that have been created or transformed over the decades by different generations of students and campus residents.
Some works, sometimes anonymous, still bear the marks of student movements—antifascist, antiracist, feminist, or international commitments that have traversed the university since the 1970s. Others reflect more informal militant practices where the wall becomes a shared surface for expression, revendication, or memory.
The route invites reflection on the role of graffiti, wall painting, and visual inscriptions in the history of university mobilisations, and on how these traces today form a living heritage of the campus.
Practical information
📍 Meeting point:
In front of the Student House (MDE)
200 Avenue de la République - 92000 Nanterre
Duration: about 1 hour
Capacity: 20 people per tour
Audience: tours recommended for secondary school students (12–13 years and up)
Participation conditions : Free with prior registration. A maximum of 20 participants per tour - Free | Reservations required - https://www.billetweb.fr/visites-guidees-street-art-du-campus-de-luniversite-paris-nanterre
Times: Saturday, September 19, 2026 – 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
Dates and Opening Time
From September 19, 2026 to September 20, 2026
Location
Downtown Nanterre
Centre ville
92000 Nanterre
Route planner
Accessibility info
Official website
www.nanterre.fr
