Bibliothèque nationale de France, National library in 2nd arrondissement, France
The Bibliothèque nationale de France features four corner towers and a sunken garden, creating a modern architectural complex along the Seine River.
Founded in 1537 by King Francis I, the library began with a royal decree requiring publishers to deposit one copy of every published work in France.
The library maintains over 13 million books, 350,000 manuscript volumes, maps, coins, prints, and sound recordings, representing French intellectual production through centuries.
The library provides specialized sections for current affairs, audiovisual content, study areas, and research facilities across multiple mezzanine levels with natural lighting.
The library complex includes a central garden positioned between reading areas, offering visitors a natural retreat within the urban environment.
Inception: 1537
Industry: library and archive management
Website: https://bnf.fr/en
GPS coordinates: 48.83361,2.37583
Latest update: June 23, 2025 09:35
Paris houses several museums dedicated to Asian art. The Musée Guimet holds one of the most significant collections outside Asia, featuring works from India, China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. The collection includes Buddhist sculptures from Afghanistan, Chinese bronzes, Japanese woodblock prints, and Cambodian stone reliefs. The Musée Cernuschi focuses on Chinese art from antiquity to the early 20th century. The Louvre displays Asian artworks in its Islamic Art department and the Pavillon des Sessions. Additional collections can be found at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. These institutions regularly organize temporary exhibitions on specific themes such as calligraphy, ceramics, or textiles from various Asian regions.
Paris has reshaped its architectural landscape over recent decades by constructing distinctly contemporary buildings. La Défense's Grande Arche extends the city's historic axis, while Frank Gehry's Louis Vuitton Foundation unfurls its glass sails in Bois de Boulogne. The François Mitterrand Library rises with four towers shaped like open books along the Seine, symbolizing a confident embrace of modernity. However, Paris architecture is not limited to recent constructions. The city has reinvented old structures: La Samaritaine, a department store in Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles, was restored to its former glory after a lengthy renovation. The former Bercy wine warehouses have become a lively shopping district, the Viaduc des Arts hosts artisan workshops beneath its 19th-century arches, and the Centquatre turned a municipal funeral home into a cultural center. These renovations demonstrate how Paris combines heritage preservation with adaptation to contemporary functions.
Halle Freyssinet
396 m
Passerelle Simone-de-Beauvoir
245 m
Enfer
0 m
Quai de Bercy
404 m
Pont de Tolbiac
449 m
House of Saint Casimir in Paris
306 m
Parvis Alan-Turing
404 m
Quai François-Mauriac
131 m
Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-la-Sagesse
290 m
Quai de la Gare
322 m
Promenade Claude-Lévi-Strauss
297 m
Petit château de Bercy
491 m
Jardin Françoise-Mallet-Joris
266 m
Square Héloïse-et-Abélard
494 m
Port de la Gare
164 m
Jardin James-Joyce
305 m
Cour du Liégat
330 m
Jardin Georges-Duhamel
242 m
La Pluie de citations
440 m
Une horloge végétale
494 m
La Maison des Frigos
375 m
Promenade plantée Arthur-Rimbaud
206 m
Quai de la photo
336 m
Théâtre Dunois
391 m
Jardin des senteurs
498 m
Large lawns of the parc de Bercy
482 m
Labyrinth of the Parc de Bercy
482 m
Roseraie de Bercy
469 mReviews
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