Good plan alert! The Journées du Patrimoine return to Paris and the Île-de-France region on the weekend of September 20 and 21, 2025 , for an exciting 42nd edition! Each year, this cultural event invites us to rediscover our heritage in a new light through a special program of visits and events all over Europe. In the Paris region, museums, monuments, castles and even places inaccessible to the public are playing their part during this exceptional weekend!
The Journées du Patrimoine are a unique opportunity to discover the treasures that make up our heritage. And why not take the opportunity to discover the heritage of Île-de-France's major cities? Paris is always in the spotlight, but the surrounding region also has plenty to surprise you!
The city of Créteil, in the Val-de-Marne region of France, isone of the larger towns accessible by public transport. The town is taking part in the Journées du Patrimoine (Heritage Days), and is unveiling a varied program for this exceptional weekend! Perfect for discovering Créteil from another angle!
Val-de-Marne Departmental Archives in Créteil
After an earthquake, the Archives building is on the verge of collapse. Join a team of archivists, investigate the history of the Archives, and save the building and all its treasures!
As you stroll through areas usually reserved for archivists, you'll discover the different professions involved in archives, from the moment a document is received to the moment it is made available to the public.
This year, the tour will begin with a small exhibition on the archives building.
Reconstruction of a model of the 1970s Archives Départementales du Val-de-Marne building.
Saint Christopher's Church
Departing from St Christophe church and rue du Général Leclerc, the guided tour led by Sabrina Kara, architect with the Conseil d'architecture, d'urbanisme et de l'environnement 94, invites you to discover Créteil's old town and its evolution up to the 1930s. From the construction of schools, shower baths and the hospital, to the urbanization of the banks of the Marne, the tour will evoke the life of the people of Créteil at the beginning of the 20th century and the specific architectural features of the buildings encountered.
For over a thousand years, at the crossroads of our roads, the church of Saint-Christophe has stood and offered us, in the grace of its harmonious structure born of the union of various architectural currents, a place of life where, in stone, glass and bronze, in leather and copper, in brass and wood, we can read the concern for transmission, the only sharing that defies time: transmission of a memory, of a history, of a faith.
We invite you to discover - or rediscover - this link.
For practical reasons, the tour group will be divided in two, but each "half" will be able to visit each space.
Each group will "construct" its visit according to its curiosity, in the crypt and in the upper church, with the help of the guide and, if you wish, thanks to the QR codes indicated on the document you'll be given (you'll be able to repeat or finish the visit later).
The QR codes can be read with your smartphone. You'll then have access to photos, articles and explanations to complete your visit.
If your smartphone doesn't scan flashcodes, consider downloading a free dedicated application.
Your guide will be equipped with a tablet.
The important thing is simply to see... and perhaps to be amazed.
Access to the crypt is via a staircase in the south aisle at choir level.
Probably dating from the end of the 10th century, and reworked in the Romanesque period, it was only in the 12th century, when the church was enlarged, that it was "covered" by the Gothic choir.
Under the altar stone are the reliquaries of the martyrs Agoard and Aglibert and their companions.
Since the 11th century, this steeple has dominated the crossroads of two roads whose necessity for travel and trade has never ceased to grow. Visible to all, it nevertheless preserves, well sheltered in and behind its stones, signs, objects and testimonies linked as much to the history of the church as to that of the town.
Why is it called a bell tower dungeon? Isn't it rather high for a village church? What's still inside its three storeys? and many other questions, the answers to which will be revealed as you climb the tower.
The second floor is reached via the turret's stone staircase, but the other floors are only accessible via ladders. Space is limited, which explains the low number of visitors per session. Not recommended for those prone to vertigo.
Town Hall
Come and discover the modern architecture of Créteil's Hôtel de Ville, inaugurated 50 years ago to house the city's services, now the administrative center of the département. Designed by architect Pierre Dufau, the building's original silhouette is a veritable feat of engineering, with an eleven-storey tower built on former sand quarries. Sign up to learn more about one of the first buildings to be constructed as part of the Nouveau Créteil program.
On this guided tour, you'll enter the council chamber and marriage hall, decorated by Michel Boyer in a style characteristic of the "trente glorieuses" period. You'll also discover the Mayor's office and enjoy one of the finest views of the city from the roof terrace (subject to change)!
Are you intrigued by the choux de Créteil, the emblematic buildings of Gérard Grandval's Palais district? Here's your chance to learn more about these buildings and make your own creations.
For just over an hour, this workshop designed by Galerie 54 in partnership with Studio Space Play will introduce you to Brutalist architecture and enable you to create your own miniature buildings in plaster.
A moment for children and their parents.
Le Colombier
Take your family back in time for this storytelling reading and discover one of the city's oldest monuments: Créteil's medieval dovecote! A time to marvel and listen to wonderful stories together.
A reading offered by the Médiathèque Nelson Mandela and the City of Créteil, in partnership with the Association Les Amis de Créteil.
Guided tour and video montage "La ronde des boulins" at 4:00 pm and 5:30 pm.
The upper room, once reserved for pigeons, will take you back in time to the Dovecote's past, as you climb the few steps of the staircase cut into the wall.
You can discover the "three lives" of the Dovecote:
-that of a seigniorial dovecote, from 1375 to the Revolution,
-as a farm building, forgotten, threatened, finally spared but moved,
-the story of a listed and restored monument, open to the 21st century and determined to last.
You'll be able to appreciate the details of the identical restoration carried out in the 80s.
This visit has always elicited many reactions and questions from visitors about the contemporary history of Le Colombier: its late classification, its risky relocation, the choice of its current location...
In the lower room, you'll find the "La ronde des boulins" montage.
The NKG company takes over the Créteil dovecote for a photographic exhibition and a contemporary dance performance accompanied by singing, specially adapted for the Journées européennes du partrimoine 2025.
The two dancers and choreographers, Emiliy Regen and Elodie Allary, propose a feminine duet imbued with gentle strength, fluidity and intensity in the setting of the medieval dovecote for a meditative journey.
An event proposed by the city of Créteil in partnership with the association Les Amis de Créteil.
Créteil Arts Centre
For the European Heritage Days 2025, L'École Nationale des Arts du Cirque de Rosny-Sous-Bois (ENACR) is invited to take over the Maison des Arts et de la Culture. It's a chance to take the shows out of their rooms and explore this New Créteil facility, inaugurated fifty years ago.
Organized by the Maison des Arts et de la Culture de Créteil and the City of Créteil, this show tour takes you through the spaces designed by architect Jean Fougeron for the cultural democratization program initiated by André Malraux.
It's an opportunity to discover or re-discover this astonishing modern building, with its concrete facade decorated by Jean-Pierre Vasarely (known as Yvaral) and restored in 2023, right through to the backstage area of the national stage.
Maison du combattant, former town hall
Come and discover or rediscover a remarkable landmark in Créteil's history. With your family, follow the fun tour booklet to learn more about the secrets of the estate, built in the 18th century and converted into the town hall in 1874.
Inside, you'll find the marriage hall, decorated in 1901 by painter Eugène Simas, depicting 19th-century Créteil landscapes.
Dates and Opening Time
From September 20, 2025 to September 21, 2025
Location
Créteil
1 Place Salvador Allende
94000 Creteil
Official website
www.ville-creteil.fr
