Journées du Patrimoine 2025 at the Hôtel de Salm, Grande Chancellerie de la Légion d'honneur in Paris

Owned by the Grande Chancellerie, theHôtel de Salm is a beautiful building on the banks of the Seine, near the Assemblée Nationale and the Musée d'Orsay. For the Journées du Patrimoine 2024, on September 21 and 22, discover the Palais de la Grande Chancellerie and the Musée de la Légion d'Honneur.

While theHôtel de Salm is still used by the Grand Chancellor for receptions and the distribution of the Crosses of the Legion of Honor, the establishment is also open to the public through the Musée de la Légion d'Honneur. On display are official texts and period documents, as well as sketches of the insignia, photographs and films of ceremonies which retrace the history of theOrder of Merit .

It explains the reasons for the creation of this Order, officially created on December 3, 1963 by General de Gaulle, but initiated by General Catroux, with the aim of"rewarding distinguished merit" who had not devoted the twenty years of service to France required for the Légion d'Honneur, or foreign merit.

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Renovated at the beginning of 2016, the museum has been given a facelift with new works, a new museum scenography and a digital touch with interactive screens, to give a more playful and educational side to the visit. At the end of the tour, you'll also discover the plaster statue of General de Gaulle, donated in 2013 by sculptor Cardot to the museum after the Order's fiftieth anniversary exhibition. It's the perfect way to discover and enter a little more deeply into the exclusive world of the Legion of Honor.

2024 Heritage Days program at the Hôtel de Salm - Musée de la Légion d'Honneur :

• Visit to the Palace of the Legion of Honor
  Saturday, September 20, 2025 - 13:00 ⤏ 18:00 | Sunday, September 21, 2025 - 11:00 ⤏ 18:00
  

  The Grand Chancellery of the Legion of Honor opens its doors for the European Heritage Days on September 20 and 21, with a program celebrating the memory of its more than two hundred years of existence.

  This year's event is dedicated to "architectural heritage as a witness to the evolution of our history and our memories", and includes a visit to the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur, an 18th-century mansion entirely redecorated in the 1870s to showcase France's greatest figures and the nation's highest honor.

  The tour continues in the museum, which this year celebrates its first century with a guided tour of the exhibition: 100 ans d'honneurs - Destin d'un musée, destinins de décorés.