ALREADY KNOW YOUR NEXT DESTINATION?
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE AUDIOGUIDE
The Museum of Arts and Trades, or Arts et Metiers in French, is one of the most curious and enjoyable in Paris.
Situated at number 60 Rue Réaumur it is housed in the old abbey of Saint Martin des Champs, founded in 1060. Here you will also find the first groin vaults in Paris. The monks’ refectory, the old dining room, today a library, seems to be the work of Pierre de Montreuil, architect of the Sainte-Chapelle and chief of works of Notre-Dame.
The museum was created in 1794 during the Revolution as the “Conservatory of Arts and Trades” and had to be, literally, “a storeroom of machines, models, tools, drawings, descriptions and books about all the arts and trades”.
For its 200th anniversary, in 1994, several projects were undertaken to commemorate and boost the museum, among which we would highlight the remodelling of the nearby metro station, work of the designer Françoise Schuiten. If you go there, you will sense you are in the middle of the industrial revolution. Made almost entirely in copper, with large tacks and reels, it is a leap in time that recalls a technical and industrial universe, a bridge between the city and the museum itself.
The full collection of the museum comprises some 70,000 objects distributed in different areas: scientific instruments, materials, construction, communications, energy, mechanics, transport and church. Among these objects you can admire Lavoisier’s laboratory or Charles’s physics laboratory or that of Abbot Nollet.
The fact is the main inventions of humanity since the 16th century are represented here. You cannot miss the first automobile, designed by Cugnot in 1770, or the plane, by Clément Ader in 1897.
Additionally, several of these objects can be turned on to be able to see and understand first-hand how they work. All in all, a great experience to be had here.
We also recommend you see the automat theatre, with dolls and automats from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Get information in advance and book your place, because these free demonstrations are only for small groups.
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)
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)
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)