Carnavalet Museum

You are approaching the Carnavalet Museum, the oldest municipal museum in Paris. It sits within a pair of historic private mansions in the heart of the Marais district, offering a uniquely intimate perspective on the city. The primary building, the Hôtel Carnavalet, dates back to the sixteenth century and remains one of the rare surviving examples of Renaissance architecture in the capital. Its name is a linguistic accident; it was derived from the nickname of a former owner, the Chevalier de Kernevenoy, which local tongues gradually warped into the word you see today. Continue