The Palais de la Légion d'Honneur (; Palace of the Legion of Honour), also known as the Hôtel de Salm (), is a historic building on the

Left Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...

of the

River Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres p ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France. Originally built in the 1770s, and rebuilt after an 1871 fire, it houses the Musée de la Légion d'honneur (Museum of the Legion of Honour) and is the seat of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

, the highest French

order of merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

. It is located at 64 Rue de Lille, next to the former Orsay railway station (now the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mai ...

) in the 7th arrondissement.

History

The original Hôtel de Salm between 1782 and 1787 by the architect Pierre Rousseau (1751–1810) for the German prince Frederick III, Prince of Salm-Kyrburg.

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

wrote that he had "fallen in love in Paris", not with a woman but with the Hôtel de Salm, while it was under construction. The future

Empress Joséphine The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/ grand empress dowager), or a woman who rule ...

was a frequent visitor in the early stages of the French Revolution. The revolutionary government nationalised the building, and from 13 May 1804, it was renamed the "Palais de la Légion d'honneur" and became the seat of the newly created

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. The interior was remodeled for that purpose by Antoine-François Peyre, and new exterior sculptures were added by Jean Guillaume Moitte and Philippe-Laurent Roland. An additional building was added in 1866 along the new Rue de Solférino, but the palace was burned in 1871 by the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

. A replica was rebuilt soon afterwards under Anastase Mortier, with painters Jean-Paul Laurens and Théodore Maillot providing interior decoration. An additional building was added from 1922–1925, on rue de Bellechasse in order to house a museum of the Légion d'honneur. The building was classified as a historical monument in 1985.

Influences

The architect John Nash included a domed semi-circular bow in his design for the garden front at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

(1825-1830), inspired by the Hôtel de Salm. In

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

in the Netherlands, the banker Henry Hope had his Villa Welgelegen built to resemble the Hôtel de Salm. In Rochefort-en-Yvelines (near Paris), there is a larger-scale replica of the Hôtel de Salm. It was built between 1899, and 1904 for the wealthy business magnate Jules Porgès by the architect Charles Mewès, and it is known as the ; today, it is a golf club. The California Palace of the Legion of Honor, a three-quarter scale replica of the Hôtel de Salm, was constructed in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

in 1924; it houses a fine arts museum.

References

External links

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Palais de la Légion d'honneur
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palais De La Legion D'honneur Houses completed in 1787 Museums in Paris Palaces in France Houses in Paris 1787 establishments in France Buildings and structures in the 7th arrondissement of Paris Domes