eady to learn about one of Paris' best kept secrets? Last year I found myself standing in awe in the Oval Reading room of the Richelieu site of the National Library of France. Even though we have been to Paris a few times, I never knew this library (not too far from the Opera) even existed. There is a really good reason for that - it recently reopened in 2022 after a 12-year long renovation. But one day before our trip I was scrolling through Instagram and saw a picture of a large, beautiful globe sitting in a gorgeous room (which you'll see soon) and I knew I had to see it. I was even more excited to find out that the globe was located in a museum associated with a library. And not just any library but the national library of France! So of course this went on our itinerary, and what a delightful discovery it was!
The Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF for short) is a series of libraries across France that have the important responsibility of preserving every book and document ever published in any French territory. This collection of everything published in a French territory got its start in the 1300s by King Charles V. The Richelieu site, located in the former palace of Cardinal Mazarin, was established in 1721 when there was no longer enough room in the Louvre to hold all the important French manuscripts and books. It was first just a fancy storage facility, but was officially opened to the public in the late 1600’s, making it one of the oldest libraries in the world.
The Oval Reading Room
Our first stop in the library was the Oval Reading Room. It was once reserved for scholars and students but is now entirely open to the public for free. If you happen to be a bookworm like me, this is what I imagine heaven would look like! I got dizzy walking around looking up at the ceiling.
I immediately regretted not bringing a book with us because I could have sat and read here for hours! Even if you don’t bring a book, you can take any book out of the collection to read…you just have to be able to read French.
After visiting the Oval Reading room we began our tour of the museum, which houses a small but impressive collection of about 900 historical artifacts, artwork, and manuscripts from ancient times to the modern day. Visitor beware: while some of the larger signs in each room are in French and English, the individual item descriptions are unfortunately only in French. However, it’s easy to translate and after doing a bit more research after we left, we discovered there is a free multilingual app we could have downloaded from the library’s website.
The stairs leading to the museum were pretty cool, along with the temporary art exhibit by contemporary artist Barthélémy Toguo.
The Column Room
Our first stop was the Column Room (aptly named), which features many antiquities collected by French monarchs over hundreds of years. There were so many interesting and beautiful treasures to look at in this room, I enjoyed it just as much as walking through the Louvre.
The Cabinet of Treasures
The next room was the Cabinet of Treasures, featuring jewelry, coins and treasures made of precious metals. The centerpiece of this room is the Berthouville treasure, a priceless collection of silver relics accidentally discovered by a French farmer in 1830 when he was ploughing his field near Normandy. Could you imagine just being out in your yard one day, digging up an area to put in a garden, and you find treasure like this?
Even though this silver collection was cool, I was mostly interested in the jewelry. Simply gorgeous!
The de Luynes Room
The third room we visited featured items collected by Honoré Théodore Paul Joseph d’Albert, duc de Luyne. He was wealthy guy fascinated with archaeology and eventually the emerging field of photography. He donated his entire personal collection to the BnF in 1862, and from the looks of it he had some interesting pieces.
The Louis XV Salon
After this we skipped the Barthélemy Room and looked briefly in the Louis XV salon. It was kinds cool, but I really wanted to see what (if anything) were stored in those cabinets!
The Mazarin Gallery
The Mazarin Gallery was the highlight of our visit. I mean, just look at the room!
This gallery had so many interesting and fascinating exhibits, my most favorite being the Coronelli globe at the center of the room.
After that I had to see Dagobert’s throne and the Charlemagne Chessmen.
And this cool drinking horn.
After that I spent a lot of time looking at all of the precious manuscripts, starting with the gilded prayer books and bibles from Louis IX.
There were many other things to look at in this gallery, but I was just enthralled by all of the old manuscripts.
And then amongst all the French descriptions, there was this random English translation thrown in the mix:
Labrouste Reading Room
After spending a lot of time in this gallery, we made our way through the rest of the museum and library. The rest wasn’t really of much interest to us, but on our way to the gift shop, we found another gorgeous reading room. This one is not open to the public, but they do have a little roped off area you can walk into so you can see inside. It was insanely cool.
While a visit to the Richelieu site of the National Library of France may not be at the top of your list of must see locations in Paris, I’m sure you’ll love it if you add it to your itinerary. Be careful if you decide to visit, though. There are several BnF sites around Paris so make sure the address you put into your GPS is for the Richelieu location, otherwise you might end up at the wrong location on the other side of town!
Know Before You GO
The BnF Richelieu site is located at 5, rue Vivienne 5002 Paris
The library and museum are open Tuesday – Sunday, I recommend visiting their website for the most up-to-date opening hours.
Tickets for the museum are 10 euro
There is a cafe on site that offers coffee and pastries.
