Paris
Paris
+ Exploring Paris
Sights
* Pont Alexandre III
* Arc de Triomphe
* Art Moderne de La Ville de Paris, Musée d'
* Arts Asiatiques-guimet, Musée National des/Panthéon Bouddhique
* Arts Décoratifs, Musée des
* Arts et Métiers-techniques, Musée des National
* Assemblée Nationale Palais-Bourbon
* Baccarat, Musée
* Balzac, Maison de
* Bastille
* Bibliothèque Nationale De France
* Carnavalet, Musée
* Cernuschi, Musée
* Chaillot, Palais de
* Cité, Ile de la
* Cognacq-Jay, Musée
* La Conciergerie
* Concorde, Place de la
* Eugène Delacroix, Musée National
* Faubourg St-Germain
* Faubourg St-Honoré
* Galliéra, Musée
* Gobelins, Manufacture Nationale des
* Grand Palais
* Grands Boulevards
* Les Halles
* Hôtel De Ville
* Institut De France
* Institut du Monde Arabe
* Jacquemart-André, Musée
* Jeu de Paume
* Madeleine, Eglise de la
* Maillol, Musée
* Le Marais
* Marmottan-monet, Musée
* Monnaie de Paris, Musée de la
* Montmartre
* Montparnasse
* Moyen-Age, Musée National du
* Musique, Musée de la
* Nissim de Camondo, Musée
* Opéra Garnier
* Orangerie, Musée National de l'
* Palais-Royal
* Panthéon
* Parfum, Musée du
* Pavillon de l'Arsenal
* Père-Lachaise, Cimetière du
* Picasso, Musée
* Plantes, Jardin des
* Quartier Latin
* Rodin, Musée
* Sacré-Coeur, Basilique du
* St-Germain-des-Prés
* Saint-Louis, Ile
* St-Sulpice, Église
* Sainte-Chapelle
* Tuileries, Jardin des
* Vendôme, Place
* Vosges, Place des
Vicinity
+ Vicinity
Walk/Drive
Food&Drink
In The Know
Did You Know?
( Worth Seeing )
The national library is seen by the French as a symbol of their culture. Until 1996, the BN, as Parisians call it, was housed in Cardinal Mazarin's former palace situated at the back of the Palais-Royal, extended many times and now stretching from the rue de Richelieu to the rue Vivienne. However, with around 13 million books and as many prints and photographs, it had long been overcrowded. The building of a new library along the river in the 13th arrondissement was President Mitterrand's last 'Grand Projet'. The BNF, as it is now called, occupies two sites known as 'Richelieu' and 'François Mitterrand'.
The new library houses the huge stock of printed books and documents and is intended to serve as a public library and a research centre equipped with the most modern means of data transmission. Four corner towers looking like open books surround an imposing base with a central garden where the reading rooms are situated.
The Richelieu building houses manuscripts, prints and medals and holds exhibitions in the Galerie Mansart (Galerie de Photographie), the Galerie Mazarine (which has a magnificent painted ceiling) and the Crypte. The Cabinet des Médailles et des Antiques displays coins and medals from antiquity to the present day as well as objets d'art, cameos and bronzes from the former royal collections.
Two charming arcades linked to the library, the Galerie Vivienne and the Galerie Colbert, offer an unexpected insight into Parisian social life in the 19th century.
Url: www.bnf.fr
Address: Richelieu: 58 rue de Richelieu, 75002 Paris; François Mitterrand: quai François Mauriac, 75013 Paris
Phone: Richelieu: 01 53 79 59 59; Guided tours: 01 53 79 86 87; François Mitterrand: 01 53 79 59 59
Hours: Richelieu: Galeries and Crypt: Tue-Sat 10-7, Sun 12-7. Cabinet des Médailles: daily 1-5; Sun 12-6. François Mitterrand: visits of the building on Tue-Sat 2, Sun 3 by appointment only.
Restaurant: Richelieu: restaurant in Galerie Vivienne (Inexpensive)
Bus: Richelieu: 29, 39, 48; François Mitterrand: 62, 89
Metro: Richelieu: Bourse, Palais-Royal-Musée du Louvre; François Mitterrand: Quai de la Gare
Accessible: Very good
Admission: Richelieu: moderate; François Mitterrand: free
| COUNTRY |
| France |
| REGION |
| French Riviera |
| CITIES |
| Paris
|
| Viewing |
| Top Ten |
| What To See |
| Where To ... |
| Practical Matters |
| Lyon |
| Nice |
| Strasbourg |
| MAPS |
| World |
| Europe |
| TRAVEL BOOK |
| Book Info |
| Order Online |
 |