National Museum of the Middle Ages, Paris
La Musée National du Moyen Age, Paris. Photo credits: Glynnis Ritchie; Clio20; Brian Jeffery Beggerly.
The National Museum of the Middle Ages (Musée National du Moyen Age) is a museum of medieval art housed in a lovely medieval mansion that once hosted royalty. As an added bonus, underneath the museum are the ruins of ancient Roman baths.
The Musée National du Moyen Age is housed in the Hôtel de Cluny, one of only two remaining medieval homes in Paris (the other being the Hôtel de Sens in the Marais).
The Cluny began its life as the mansion of the rich and powerful 15th-century abbot of Cluny, who built ti over the ruins of a Roman bath. By 1515, it had become the home of Mary Tudor, widow of Louis XII and daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.
Seized during the French Revolution, the Cluny was rented in 1833 to Alexandre du Sommerard, who adorned it with medieval artworks. After his death in 1842, the government bought the building and the collection.
The museum is entered through the cobblestoned Cour d'Honneur (Court of Honor), where you can admire the flamboyant Gothic building. Symbols of the abbot's power can be seen everywhere, from the crenellated walls that proclaimed his independence from the king to the carved Burgundian grapes twining up the entrance. The scallop-shell decorations covering the façade symbolize the great Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route, which once lay just around the corner.
Inside, the main attractions of the Musée National du Moyen Age are the Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries (Dame à la Licorne), the most acclaimed tapestries of their kind. The charming scenes exemplify the romance of the age of chivalry.
Other exhibits include such objects as: Flemish retables; a 14th-century Sienese John the Baptist and other sculptures; statues from Sainte-Chapelle (1243-48); 12th- and 13th-century crosses, chalices, manuscripts, carvings, vestments, leatherwork, jewelry, and coins; a 13th-century Adam; and recently discovered heads and fragments of statues from Notre-Dame de Paris. In the fan-vaulted medieval chapel hang tapestries depicting scenes from the life of St. Stephen.
Downstairs are the ruins of Roman baths, dating from about 200 AD. The best-preserved section is in room X, the frigidarium (cold water bath). The ribbed vaulting rests on consoles evoking ships' prows. Credit for this unusual motif goes to the builders of the baths, Paris's boatmen. During Tiberius's reign, a column to Jupiter was found beneath Notre-Dame's chancel and is now on view in the court -- called the "Column of the Boatmen," it's believed to be the oldest sculpture created in Paris.
The design of the museum's garden was inspired by the unicorn tapestries and provides a pleasant oasis that's like a return to the Middle Ages.
Quick Facts
| Address | 6 place Paul-Painlevé, 5e, Paris, France (see Paris map) |
| Neighborhood: | Latin Quarter |
| Phone | 01-53-73-78-15 |
| URL: | www.musee-moyenage.fr |
| Métro: | Cluny-La Sorbonne |
| Hours: | Wed-Mon 9:15am-5:45pm |
| Cost: | 5.50€ adults, 4€ ages 18-25, free for children 17 and under |
| Tours: | Saturdays at 11.45 (a.m.) and on Sundays at 10.00 (a.m.), except the first Sunday of each month |
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More Information
- Musée national du Moyen Âge - Official Website (includes a map of the museum and garden)
- Musee National du Moyen Age – TripAdvisor user reviews
- Musee National du Moyen-Age – Thermes de Cluny – The Economist Cities Guide
- Musée du Moyen Age (Middle Ages) - Musée de Cluny – VirtualTourist user reviews
