Musée du Vin, Wine museum near Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

Musée du Vin occupies the former cellars of the Passy abbey, cut into the old quarries beneath the butte de Passy in the 16th arrondissement. Visitors follow roughly a kilometre of stone-vaulted galleries, where display cases hold some 2,000 tools, bottles, barrels, glasses and corkscrews, and wax figures show the stages of winemaking. The entrance is at 5, square Charles-Dickens, off the rue des Eaux.

The cellars occupy medieval quarries that the Minims of the Passy abbey fitted out as wine stores from the 15th century; their vineyards supplied a wine appreciated by Louis XIII. The abbey was suppressed in 1790 and gradually demolished. Rehabilitated after 1950, the galleries served briefly as cellars for the Eiffel Tower restaurant before the wine museum opened in 1984.

The street name rue des Eaux recalls the mineral springs found here, popular until 1785; a lit well with a square stone rim can still be seen. The museum is run by the Conseil des Échansons de France, which holds wine-related events and tastings in its rooms.

The entrance is at 5, square Charles-Dickens, off rue des Eaux in the 16th arrondissement, near the Passy metro station. The galleries run about a kilometre beneath the Passy hill, so allow time to walk the full circuit. The vaulted cellars stay cool, and the stone floor is uneven in places.

The wax figures include Bacchus, Dionysus, Napoleon Bonaparte, Balzac, Louis XIII and monks at work, showing the stages of winemaking. The collection also holds a notable set of corkscrews and wine labels. The galleries run about one kilometre beneath the Passy hill.