National Library

National Library (77)

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As its name indicates, the National Library of France is the most important in the country. You would not be able to read even the smallest part of all the books it contains. It is estimated that the library’s archive contains more than 30 million volumes. Not only that, but it also has a digital library of documents and images called “Gallica”.

It is an impressive building that, if you get the chance, we recommend you visit the inside, for example the printed books room.

The "Richelieu site" has been the historic centre of the library since 1720. This building is in the 2nd District, between the streets of des Petits-Champs, Vivienne, Louvois and Richelieu. Its most attractive aspect is the oval room. This room was designed by the architect Pascal and was completed in 1916. In the “Richelieu site” you can find, above all, reading rooms, shops and offices. You can also lose yourself in one of its three exhibition rooms: the Mazarine gallery, the photography gallery, the Mansart gallery and the crypt.

Since its foundation, the patrimony of the National Library has just grown and grown. Its function has also changed over time. Firstly, it was a royal library and then it was at the service of the State. It finally took on the character of an independent public institution. As well as donations, its funds have increased thanks to the purchases of examples and exchanges with other libraries. And without doubt, the period of major growth was that of the Revolution, when the archives of the religious establishments, colleges and universities were confiscated.

But not all the activities of the National Library are undertaken here. Other buildings in Paris and in other French cities form part of the network of the National Library. Since 1996 many of the books stored in the Richelieu place have been kept in the spectacular François Mitterrand Library.

As well as the Mitterrand site we can find National Library centres in Paris in the l’Arsenal site, in the Opera Garnier we find the library-museum of the Opera, which provides the visitor with all kinds of documents related to music. There you can see musical scores, costumes, models and photographs.

ALL POINTS OF INTEREST

INFORMATION

Haute Couture (1C)

Mysterious Paris (1E)

Printemps Store (1B)

History (2)

Play&Tour (0)

The Seine (3)

Introduction (1)

Coffee (1D)

Les Grands Boulevards (1A)

Metro Art-Noveau (36)

ESSENTIAL

Arc de Triomphe (18)

Church of The Madeleine (23)

Fontaine de l'Observatoire (43A)

Jardin du Luxembourg (43)

Les Invalides (55)

Odeon Theatre (45)

Passage des Panoramas (67B)

Place des Vosges (74)

Pont Neuf (8A)

Saint Germain des Prés (46)

Bastille Opera (73)

Conciergerie (35)

Grand Palais et Petit Palais (29)

La Défense (100)

Montmartre (60)

Opéra Garnier (25)

Passages Couverts (67)

Place du Tertre (63)

Quartier Latin (38)

Sainte Chapelle (5)

Bridges of Paris (8)

Dôme (56)

Hotel de Ville (31)

Le Marais District (86)

Notre-Dame - Art (4B)

Opéra Garnier - History (25A)

Place de la Bastille (71)

Place Vendôme (24)

Sacré-Coeur (62)

Champs Élysées (10)

Eiffel Tower (12)

Jardin des Tuileries (20)

Les Halles (27)

Notre-Dame - History (4A)

Pantheon (44)

Place de la Concorde (22)

Pont Alenxandre III (8B)

Sacré-Coeur - History (62A)

INTERESTING

Arènes de Lutece (75)

Belleville (88)

Champ de Mars (15)

Fontaine des Innocents (27B)

Île Saint Louis (7)

Jardins des Champs Elysées (11)

Le Défenseur du Temps (27C)

Metro Art-Noveau (36)

Moulin de la Galette (95)

Palais de l'Elysée (28)

Parc Monceau (82)

Place Pigalle (70)

Quai Voltaire (53)

Saint Severin (41)

The Seine (3)

Au Lapin Agile (64)

Bercy (81)

Cimetière du Montmartre (68)

Françoise Miterrand Library (78)

Institut du Monde Arabe (79)

Jardins du Trocadéro (14)

Les Catacombes de Paris (49)

Montparnasse Cemetery (48)

Moulin Rouge (69)

Palais du Luxembourg (42)

Passage Jouffroy (67A)

Place Saint-Sulpice (50A)

Rue des Rosiers (87)

Saint-Étienne du Mont (91)

Val-de-Grâce (92)

Auteil (94)

Cathedral Orthodox Saint Alexandre Nevsky (83)

Cimetière du Père-Lachaise (85)

Hotel de Lauzun (9)

Institut Pasteur (54)

La Ruche (93)

Maison de Radio-France (17)

Montparnasse Tower (47)

National Library (77)

Palais Royal (26)

Passages Verdeau (67C)

Pont de l'Alma (8C)

Saint Eustache (27A)

Saint-Pierre-de-Montmartre (66)

Villette Park (98)

Basilique Saint-Denis (97)

Chaillot (13)

Cour de Rohan (52)

Île de la Cité (6)

Jardin des Plantes (76)

La Sorbonne (51)

Marché aux Puces de St. Ouen (96)

Mosquée de Paris (80)

Palais de la Porte Dorée (84)

Palais-Bourbon. Assemblée-Nationale (30)

Passy (89)

Port de l'Arsenal (72)

Saint Julien le Pauvre (39)

Saint-Sulpice (50)

MUSEUM

Carnavalet Museum (34)

Musée de la Magie (90)

Musée d'Orsay - Art (59B)

Musée Picasso (33)

Victor Hug's House (58)

Georges Pompidou Centre (32)

Musée de l'Orangerie (21)

Musée d'Orsay - History (59A)

Museum of The Louvre - History (19A)

Halle Saint-Pierre - Musée d’Art Naïf Max Fourny (65)

Musée Delacroix (99)

Musée Montmartre (61)

Museum of The Louvre - Works (19B)

Maison de Balzac (16)

Musée des Arts et Métiers (37)

Musée National du Moyen Âge (40)

Rodin Museum (57)