The Palais de la Porte Dorée (, literally ''Palace of the Golden Gate'') is an exhibit hall located on the edge of the Bois de Vincennes at 293, avenue Daumesnil, 12th arrondissement of Paris,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It now houses the Musée de l'Histoire de l'Immigration, as well as a tropical aquarium in its cellar. The building was constructed for the

Paris Colonial Exposition The Paris Colonial Exhibition (or "''Exposition coloniale internationale''", International Colonial Exhibition) was a six-month colonial exhibition held in Paris, France, in 1931 that attempted to display the diverse cultures and immense resour ...

of 1931 to designs by French architect Albert Laprade, Léon Jaussely and Léon Bazin. It provides 16,000 m² of exhibition and office space. External

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s (1200 m²) by sculptor Alfred Janniot portray ships, oceans, and wildlife including

antelope The term antelope refers to numerous extant or recently extinct species of the ruminant artiodactyl family Bovidae that are indigenous to most of Africa, India, the Middle East, Central Asia, and a small area of Eastern Europe. Antelopes do ...

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), the plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. ...

s, and

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

s. The building's bas-reliefs and interior frescoes present an idealized version of

colonialism Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

that ignores colonialism's negative impacts. The building is considered a landmark of

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

architecture. The Palais de la Porte Dorée has housed a succession of

ethnological Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural anthropology, cultural, social anthropology, so ...

museums, starting with the colonial exhibition of 1931, which was renamed in 1935, the Musée de la France d'Outre-mer, then in 1960, the Musée des Arts africains et océaniens, and finally in 1990, the Musée national des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie. In 2003, these collections were merged into the Musée du quai Branly, and in its place the building now houses the Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration. In January 2012, the Public Establishment of the Palais de la Porte Dorée (EPPPD) was officially created by decree. It brings together a historical monument, the Palais de la Porte Dorée, a museum, the National Museum of the History of Immigration and a tropical aquarium. The building's cellar is home to the Dorée Tropical Aquarium (), which contains about 5,000 animals representing 350

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

in a variety of tanks ranging from in size.

References

External links

Palais de la Porte Dorée - Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration

Aquarium Tropical, Palais de la Porte Dorée
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palais de la Porte Doree Aquaria in Paris Museums in Paris National museums of France Buildings and structures completed in 1931 Articles needing infobox zoo Buildings and structures in the 12th arrondissement of Paris Art Deco architecture in France Paris Colonial Exposition

See also

References

External links