Musée de Cluny, Medieval history museum in Latin Quarter, France
The Musée de Cluny is a museum of medieval art and history in the Latin Quarter of Paris, housed in a late Gothic townhouse from the fifteenth century and the remains of Roman thermal baths. The collections include sculptures, stained glass, metalwork and textiles from the Middle Ages, displayed in tall vaulted halls with stone walls and narrow passageways.
The French state purchased the building and collection from Alexandre Du Sommerard in 1843 and opened the house as a public museum. The Gothic residence had been owned by the abbots of Cluny since the late fifteenth century, while the Roman baths beneath date from the Gallo-Roman period.
The name comes from the abbots of Cluny, who used the late medieval building as their Parisian residence. Visitors today can walk through rooms with stone vaulted ceilings and tall windows, while the tapestries and liturgical objects still speak to the religious craftsmanship of that era.
The museum is open daily except Tuesdays, with extended hours on the first Sunday of each month. The Roman baths on the lower level are accessible via stairs, while the medieval collections occupy the ground and first floors.
The Roman cold bath hall beneath the building is one of the best preserved ancient structures in Paris, with massive stone vaults that have survived nearly two thousand years. Visitors can see the original walls and floors of the thermal complex from the first to third centuries, integrated directly into the museum route.
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