National Museum of Natural History, Natural history museum in Latin Quarter, Paris, France.
The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, spread across several buildings inside the Jardin des Plantes. It includes separate galleries devoted to evolution, fossils, minerals and animal anatomy, as well as a zoo and a botanical garden on the same grounds.
The site began in 1635 as a royal garden for medicinal plants, reserved at the time for doctors and apothecaries. It was transformed into a public museum in 1793, during the French Revolution, when its collections were opened to all citizens.
The Grande Galerie de l'Évolution is the most visited part of the complex, where stuffed animals of all sizes are arranged in a vast iron-and-glass hall. Visitors walk among giraffes, elephants and whales displayed at close range, giving the experience a physical, almost theatrical quality.
Each gallery and the zoo require separate admission, so it is worth deciding in advance which areas to visit. The whole complex is large and spread out, so comfortable shoes and enough time for each section are helpful.
The zoo on the grounds, known as the Menagerie, was founded in 1794 and is one of the oldest still operating in the world. It was originally stocked with animals taken from the royal collection at Versailles after that collection was dissolved following the Revolution.
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