The International University City of Paris: an offbeat world tour of architecture in Paris

For more than 100 years, the Cité Internationale Universitaire has welcomed students from every corner of the globe, with a focus on living together and multiculturalism. We take you on a tour of this truly unique place in the world, also open to the general public.

We are in the 1920s: two utopians, André Honnorat (former minister of Education and Fine Arts) and Paul Appell, a mathematician and rector of the Paris Academy, set out to create a place that would welcome students from around the world. In the wake of the First World War, which fractured Europe and claimed countless lives, they vow that such deadly conflicts will never happen again.

Since then, every year thousands of students are welcomed into the various houses, each representing a country or region of the world. There are now 47 of them, giving young students from Mexico, Southeast Asia, Tunisia, South Korea, Morocco, Egypt… the chance to spend an exceptional year within this one-of-a-kind university complex. Each house features an architectural style native to the country it represents.

Thus, the Maison de l’Égypte features imitations de hiéroglyphes carved on its exterior façade, the Collège Britannique nods to London’s red-brick architecture, the Maison de l’Italie showcases a distinctly classical style, the Maison Hellénique with Greek columns as in renowned temples, El Colegio de España evokes a Spanish castle (château, ndlr). In short, a world tour of architecture and culture without leaving Paris, with dozens of cultures or architectural styles within this 34-hectare grand landscaped complex—the park of the Cité Internationale Universitaire.

A century on, the Cité Internationale Universitaire has evolved, notably by adding ten new houses: among them, the Korea House, the Egypt House… And the House of Ukraine, the only house without a physical building. Created in a hurry when war broke out in the country (in 2024), it allows students to lodge across the different houses.

On site, multiple dining options are available within the different houses; numerous sports facilities are also at your disposal: a football stadium, tennis courts, a dance hall, a fencing room, ping-pong tables... Not to mention the event programming of the different houses or that of the Théâtre de la Cité Internationale.

The park ranks among students' favorites as well as that of local residents: little known, it invites a stroll and offers a bucolic setting that is especially captivating. This one-of-a-kind concept in the world houses dozens of different architectures: don’t miss discovering this historic site, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2025 and has hosted world-famous personalities in its houses.

This test was conducted as part of a professional invitation. If your experience differs from ours, please let us know.