The Musée national de la Légion d'honneur et des ordres de chevalerie ( French for "National museum of the Legion of Honour and of orders of chivalry") is a French national museum of

orders of merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by ...

and

orders of chivalry An order of chivalry, order of knighthood, chivalric order, or equestrian order is an order of knights, typically founded during or inspired by the original Catholic military orders of the Crusades ( 1099–1291) and paired with medieval concep ...

. It is located in the

Palais de la Légion d'Honneur The Palais de la Légion d'honneur ( French for "Palace of the Legion of Honour") is a historic building on the Left Bank of the River Seine in Paris, France. It houses the Musée de la Légion d'honneur ("Museum of the Legion of Honour") and is ...

beside the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art ...

at 2, rue de la Légion-d'Honneur, in the 7th arrondissement of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is open daily except Monday and Tuesday; admission is free. The nearest métro and RER stations are

Solférino Solférino (; oc, Solferino) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It was created in 1863 by Napoléon III by uniting several neighboring communities. It is named after the Battle of Solferino. P ...

, and

Assemblée Nationale The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...

History

The museum is housed within the Hôtel de Salm, built in 1782 by architect

Pierre Rousseau Pierre Jean-Baptiste Rousseau (11 February 1905 – 1983) was a French essayist, epistemologist, astronomer and journalist who authored numerous popular science essays and articles. He helped promote hard science to the general public and advocat ...

for

Frederick III, Prince of Salm-Kyrburg Frederick III, Prince of Salm-Kyrburg (Frederick John Otto Francis Christian Philip; 1744–1794) was the prince of Salm-Kyrburg, Hornes and Overijse, Gemen and Count of Solre-le-Château. He was the eldest son of Philip Joseph, Prince of Salm-Ky ...

. The building burned in 1871 during the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

, and it subsequently was restored by a subscription of medallists. Since 1804, this building has been called the

, and it is the seat of France's highest honours: the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

(1802), the

Médaille militaire The ''Médaille militaire'' ( en, Military Medal) is a military decoration of the French Republic for other ranks for meritorious service and acts of bravery in action against an enemy force. It is the third highest award of the French Republic, ...

(1852), and the

Ordre national du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's esta ...

(1963). Today's museum was created in 1925. It displays a history of France's honours, medals, decorations, and chivalric orders from the time of

King Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revol ...

to the present, including Napoleonic souvenirs and more than 300 portraits. A special section is dedicated to foreign orders. Its library and archives contain more than 3,000 works.

References

* ''Paris'', Petit Futé, 2007, page 144. .

External links

Official website

ParisInfo entry

{{DEFAULTSORT:Musee de la Legion d'honneur Museums in Paris Orders, decorations, and medals of France Buildings and structures in the 7th arrondissement of Paris Military and war museums in France

History

See also

References

External links