About the Marais Mansions Walk in Paris
The Renaissance arrived in Paris in the mid 16th century, transforming art and society. One of the best ways of reading and studying the Renaissance in Paris is by considering the architectural changes that took place specifically in the splendid mansions or so-called hotels particuliers built by the rich and noble families in the Marais. On this three hour walk we will investigate how these fantastic structures tell the story of the social and artistic sea change taking place in Paris between 1550 and 1720, before the French Revolution ushered in the modern era.
Our walk will focus exclusively on architecture and take into consideration a wide range of structures covering three centuries. We will have an excellent opportunity to examine the differing faces of French Classicism over this period following its first flowering on Gallic soil. Depending on opening times and the tenor of the walk, we may visit such structures as the Flamboyant-Gothic Hôtel de Sens, the Hôtel Carnavalet (hom
read more
The Renaissance arrived in Paris in the mid 16th century, transforming art and society. One of the best ways of reading and studying the Renaissance in Paris is by considering the architectural changes that took place specifically in the splendid mansions or so-called hotels particuliers built by the rich and noble families in the Marais. On this three hour walk we will investigate how these fantastic structures tell the story of the social and artistic sea change taking place in Paris between 1550 and 1720, before the French Revolution ushered in the modern era.
Our walk will focus exclusively on architecture and take into consideration a wide range of structures covering three centuries. We will have an excellent opportunity to examine the differing faces of French Classicism over this period following its first flowering on Gallic soil. Depending on opening times and the tenor of the walk, we may visit such structures as the Flamboyant-Gothic Hôtel de Sens, the Hôtel Carnavalet (home to the museum of the same name), the Hôtel de Donon (today the Musée Cognacq-Jay), the Hôtel Lamoignon (which now houses the Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris), the enormous Hôtel Salé (Musée Picasso), and the palatial, and rather atypical, Hôtel de Soubise (part of today's Archives Nationales). As we move along, more or less chronologically, we'll discuss how the development of French architecture reflected social and political realities of the time allowing the mansions themselves to offer insight into the lives of Paris' more privileged citizens in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Part of the walk will also deal with the history of the Marais itself, and how the area fell into ruin in the 19th century, becoming one of central Paris's poorest neighbourhoods, its former splendors subdivided into tenements and workshops and often unrecognizable under the burden of subsequent additions and neglect. The whole area was threatened with comprehensive redevelopment in the 20th century, until a saviour arrived in the form of culture minister André Malraux and declared the Marais an urban conservation area in 1962. Over the past 45 years, state and city authorities have spent considerable sums buying up and restoring the district's heritage, with often quite spectacular results.
