Cité de l'économie et de la monnaie

The building you are approaching is the Hotel Gaillard, a striking neo-Renaissance mansion that looks more like a fairy-tale chateau than a bank. It was built in the late nineteenth century for the banker Emile Gaillard, who needed a grand setting to house his massive collection of medieval and Renaissance art. The architect Jules Février designed the mansion with slender turrets, brick walls, and intricate stonework, drawing direct inspiration from the royal chateaux of the Loire Valley.