Conservatoire national des Arts et Métiers, Higher education institution in Le Marais, Paris, France.
The Conservatoire national des Arts et Métiers is a higher education institution for engineering and science in the third arrondissement of Paris. The main campus sits in a former Benedictine priory with Gothic buildings and an attached museum.
Henri Grégoire founded the institution in October 1794 during the Revolution as a repository for machines and tools. The medieval priory was repurposed for this new role and has housed the collections ever since.
The institution uses a former priory whose Gothic chapel now displays machines and inventions from several centuries. Visitors can walk through the historic rooms and see how science and craft evolved in France.
Access is through several entrances in the Marais district, with the historic rooms and museum forming separate areas. Visitors should check opening times for different parts of the building beforehand.
The collection includes an automated loom by Jacques de Vaucanson that later inspired Joseph Marie Jacquard. This device shows how mechanical ideas from the eighteenth century transformed the textile industry.
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