Hôtel de la Marine

The building you are approaching is the Hôtel de la Marine, a neoclassical masterpiece designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel in the eighteenth century to frame the grand royal square now known as the Place de la Concorde. While its monumental facade has long been a fixture of the Parisian skyline, for over two hundred years, this was not a place for the public. It served as the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne, the official state repository responsible for maintaining the royal family's furniture, tapestries, and glittering crown jewels when they were not in use at Versailles. This storehouse functioned as the first decorative arts museum in Paris, where the public was permitted to view the pinnacle of French craftsmanship once a month.