its prestigious neighbour, even though it certainly has the same elegance, including a lovely glass-roofed rotunda. It was restored in 1986.
Galerie Vivienne
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Wander Les Passages at will and exit onto rue des Petit Champs and turn right. Then take the next right onto rue de Richelieu and the Bibliothèque Nationale will be at No. 58 overlooking the small Square Louvois. The Bibliothèque Nationale (National Library) stems from the royal library established by King Charles V in the Louvre in the 14th century. This was then opened to the public by Louis XIV in 1692. Its collection was vastly increased during the Revolution by the addition of libraries confiscated from aristocrats and the clergy and it was made a national amenity in 1792.
Until recently it was housed in this beautiful but too-small town house. President Mitterrand commissioned a grand new library complex from architect Dominique Perrault in 1989 (see
page 217). This is located behind the Gare d’Austerlitz. The library’s collection, which includes two Gutenberg bibles, is housed in the new building, but a part of it is still housed here, including manuscripts by Victor Hugo and Marcel Proust. A law passed in 1537 means that every book printed in France has to have a copy here, but the library also has a superb collection of engravings and photographs, one of the best in the world in fact. It also has departments for maps, plans and musical scores.
This delightful building is the former palace of Cardinal Mazarin and contains some interiors by Mansart, which date from the 1640s. The library was established here in 1721, and its chief glory is the reading room by Henri Labrouste, which was built in 1868. Labrouste, who also designed the Sainte-Geneviève Library, created an airy, naturally-lit space with 16 slender metal columns crowned by foliage capitals. These support a cluster of nine domes made of glass and porcelain. This breathtakingly elegant space is surrounded by an arcade decorated in the Pompeian style and containing lunettes painted with scenes of the Jardins du Luxembourg.
Bibliothèque Nationale
Opening times: 9am–6pm Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm Sat
Website:
www.bnf.frTel: 01. 53 79 59 59
Link to the Montmartre walk: It is best get to Montmartre by metro. The nearest station to the Bibliothèque Nationale is Bourse. Walk to the top of rue de Richelieu and turn right onto rue St-Augustin, the station will be ahead of you.
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