Madame de Sévigné

Trésor de la Ville de Paris sauvé et conservé, 5 octobre 1789.

In the morning on October 5, 1789, a crowd of women from the Paris markets and city outskirts met in front of city hall before walking on to Versailles later in the day. In the commotion, city hall was invaded, doors were shattered, cupboards were forced open and part of the city’s treasure...

"One hopes that this game will end soon"

Faced with general discontent, King Louis XVI called together on May 5, 1789, the representatives of French society who had been elected during the Estates General at Versailles. There were 1,139 deputies. The deputies of the Third Estate, who were opposed to some of the deputies from the...

Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen.

On August 26, 1789, the National Assembly approved the declaration that proclaims that the rights of man and the citizen are natural, inalienable and sacred. All men are born free and with equal rights, social distinctions can be established only according to merit, and security and property...

Bouteille

  From 1866 to 1875, major excavations were made on Ile de la Cité during the construction of the new Hôtel Dieu hospital. Discovered on May 20, 1867, at the intersections of Rue Saint-Landry and Rue des Marmousets, this bottle is intact in spite of the fragility of the...

Mascaron du Pont Neuf

Le Pont-Neuf est en réalité le plus ancien pont de Paris. Construit sur la pointe aval de la Cité, il devait suppléer au pont Notre-Dame et au pont au Change, abîmés par les différentes crues et débâcles de la Seine. Henri III en pose la première pierre en 1578. Les travaux sont...

Scale model of the Bastille

Occurring after a series of tumultuous episodes, the Storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, is now considered to be the symbol of the French Revolution and marks its beginning. Starting on July 15, 1789, Pierre-François Palloy began demolition of the building, which required 800...

"Chat noir".Sign of a cabaret.

An emblem of life in Montmartre, this sign designed by Adolphe Willette shows a black cat on a crescent moon. In the late 19th century, the legendary Chat Noir cabaret was the bastion of artists and the symbol of bohemian life. Founded in 1881 by Rodolphe Salis, the cabaret opened...

Portrait of Maximilien de Robespierre (1758-1794)

Known as “The Incorruptible One” because of his ideal of virtue and equality, Maximilien Robespierre was a major member of the Jacobin Club. He defended the abolition of both slavery and the death sentence, promoted universal suffrage and opposed war. He was a deputy to the Convention and...

A supposed Marie-Antoinette's slipper, torn from the hands of revolutionary during the capture of the Tuileries on August 10, 1792.