INSIDER'S GUIDE / ENTRE NOUS
Medieval Meanderings
Déambulations dans le Paris du Moyen-Âge
The Knights Templar still walked the streets of Paris, superb architectural edifices were constructed while the fine art of stained glass making reached unprecedented heights in France during the Middle Ages, or medieval period roughly from 500 to the 15th century.
Rayonnant Gothic architecture was a 13th century building style in medieval France and great examples are found in Paris, notably inside the SainteChapelle on the Ile de La Cité. This masterpiece seemingly fashioned out of stained glass windows was built in the height of the Middle Ages between 1242 and 1248 by Louis IX, a crusader himself and who would become Saint Louis. The Centre des monuments nationaux (the Centre for National Monuments), manages the site along with the neighboring Conciergerie.
Located on the Ile de la Cité, it was part of the complex of the palace that was the residence of the medieval kings of France, a great seat of power in the Middle Ages. The monument is empty, but a HistoPad plunges the visitor into the heart of the palace through meticulous 360° reconstitutions. The institution is devoting a major exhibition to Marie-Antoinette, who was held prisoner there during the French Revolution, from Oct 16th-Jan 26th. Meanwhile, the gift shop is filled with all kinds of medieval inspired objects like toy knights, play swords and spiced wine.
Another great place to discover the medieval world is in the Musée de Cluny, the French national museum devoted to the Middle Ages. Currently visitors to the museum can see the Frigidarium, the restored Gallo-Roman thermal baths, the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries and a selection of 70 treasures from the museum’s permanent collection while a part of the museum is undergoing refurbishing. Meanwhile a temporary exhibition from Oct 24 to Jan 20 is devoted to embroidered art work of the Middle Ages.
And the medieval structure par excellence, the castle keep is largely represented in Paris and the greater Paris region. A case in point is the Castle of Vincennes located at the gates of the French capital, a fortress - part of the National Monument’s network - that dates from the 14th century with a 52-meter high keep. The beautifully restored Donjon of Vez in the greater Paris region was built during the Hundred Years War and played an important role in the history of the Valois royal family of France. The first two floors of the restored keep can be visited in this property which today presents contemporary art works in a purely medieval setting.