Paris - Cluny Museum

(Local Name: Musée National du Moyen Age-Thermes de Cluny) The former Hôtel de Cluny, now a museum of medieval art and culture, stands on the site of Roman baths in Paris, the remains of which can be seen at the corner of the Boulevard Saint Michel and Boulevard Saint-Germain.

At the beginning of the 14th century the Benedictine abbey of Cluny in Burgundy acquired the site in order to build a town house for its abbots. The Hôtel de Cluny was then built between 1485 and 1510 under the direction of Abbot Jacques d'Amboise. This house, in the Flamboyant style of the Late Gothic period, and the Hôtel de Sens in the Marais are the only late medieval aristocratic mansions surviving in Paris. After frequent changes of ownership from the medieval period onwards it fell into disrepair after the French Revolution. It was acquired in 1833 by the art collector and antiquary Alexandre du Sommerard and in 1842 by the State. It has been a museum since 1844.

The Musée de Cluny has a magnificent collection of medieval art, the nucleus of which was Alexandre du Sommerard's private collection. In the Cour d'Honneur (courtyard) the charm of this building, reflecting the period of transition from Late Gothic to Renaissance style, is revealed in all its splendor. The beautiful fountain dates from the 15th century.