Musee National Moyen Age (National Museum of the Middle Age) contains a number of medieval sculptures, tapestries and artefacts.
Some of the highlights of the museum include...
'The Lady of the Unicorn' cycle of 15th century tapestries, considered by many experts to be one of the greatest examples of medieval tapestry work still in existence.
The 16th century 'St Stephen' cycle of Tapestries, made for the choir of Auxerre Cathedral, which tell the life of Christianity's first martyr, the discovery of his corpse, and its jurney to Rome.
'The statues of the Kings of Judah,' these decapitated heads once mounted the bodies of the statues on the facade of the Notre-Dame. The statues were 'beheaded' after the revolution in 1793, because they were wrongly believed to be statues of the monarchs of France. They were thought destroyed until unearthed in 1977 during the construction of a car park in the 8th arron dissemont.
Musée National du Moyen Age (also known as Musée de Cluny) is built on the site of ancient Roman Thermal baths. The first medieval building was built in the 14th century to provide a town house (Hôtel) for the Abbots of the Cluny Benedictine Monastery. It was later purchased in the 15th century by Jacques d'Amboise, Bishop of Clermont, who rebuilt the town house between 1485-1500, it is this medieval structure that still stands today.
The house was at one time home to Mary Tudor, who lived here for a short period in the early 16th century, it was then used as the home of Papal Nuncio's. In 1833 the upper floor of the house was rented by Alexandre du Sommerard who was a collector of medival and Renaissance objects. After Sommerard's death in 1842, the house and collection was purchased by the state and the Musée National du Moyen Age opened its doors in 1843.
The remains of the ancient Roman Thermal baths are also open to the public, as is the Cluny Medieval Garden. The Garden is not actually medieval, but it is planted with herbs, shrubs and roses that decorate the medievel artifacts displayed within.
Prices
Admission: 7:50 Euro (includes audioguide)
First Sunday of every month: Free (audioguide 1 Euro)
Opening Times
9:15am - 5:45pm
Closed Tuesdays
Closed: 1 Jan, 1 May and 25 Decbr>
Address
National Museum of the Middle Ages
6, place Paul Painlevé
75005 Paris
Tel: 01 53 73 78 16
How to Get There
Métro:
Cluny-La Sorbonne on line 10
Saint-Michel on line 4
External Links
Musée National du Moyen Age Official Web Site
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