Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme, Jewish art and history museum in Marais district, Paris, France
The Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme is an art and history museum housed in the Hôtel de Saint-Aignan in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, presenting artifacts, manuscripts, and artworks from Jewish communities. The collection includes ritual objects from different regions of Europe as well as modern paintings and sculptures spread across several floors of the historic townhouse.
The institution opened in the late 1990s after several years of planning by a group of museum professionals and Paris city representatives. The founders aimed to create a center that would document Jewish culture in France from the Middle Ages to the present and make it accessible to the wider public.
The institution takes its name from the mission to document Jewish heritage in France, and visitors see ceremonial art displayed alongside everyday objects that families preserved across centuries. Textile fragments from medieval synagogues hang in the same rooms as handwritten marriage contracts and Sabbath lamps, showing how religious practice shaped daily routines.
The entrance is located in the Marais neighborhood, a short walk from several metro stations, and the rooms are spread across three floors with stairs and an elevator. Those with more time can visit the ground-floor library after the tour, where reference books on Jewish history are freely accessible.
A digital collection preserves letters, newspaper clippings, and court records related to the Dreyfus affair, donated to the institution by descendants of the family. Visitors can browse through these documents at terminals and gain insight into one of the most defining political conflicts in late 19th-century France.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
