Museum of the History of Medicine, Medical museum in 6th arrondissement, France
The Museum of the History of Medicine occupies a room built in 1905 on the second floor of the École de Médecine at 12 rue de l'École de Médecine. The long hall has a polished wood floor, a coffered wood ceiling with glass roof panels, and two levels of dark wrought-iron galleries along both sides. Tall glass display cases with black frames, some on red bases, stand along the central aisle.
The teaching cabinet was formed under Louis XV from the surgery collection of professor Lafaye, then housed at the hôtel de Bourgogne. Its collections were installed in three first-floor rooms and inaugurated on 24 vendémiaire An IV (16 October 1795), with Jean-Baptiste Thillaye as curator. The museum moved to the École de Chirurgie in 1921 and opened to the general public in 1994.
The collection reflects what people understood about their bodies and how they tried to heal themselves across different periods. These objects reveal how trust in medicine and science grew stronger over time.
The museum occupies the second floor of the École de Médecine building at 12 rue de l'École de Médecine, in the 6th arrondissement, reached by stairs to a landing. The room is a former library built in 1905, with display cases lining a central aisle between two galleried sides. Allow time to walk the length of the hall and its upper galleries.
The museum keeps 271 faculty tokens, issued from 1636 under dean Philippe Hardouin de Saint-Jacques to 1786–1793 under Edmond-Claude Bourru, replacing the coins once paid as fees at ceremonies and examinations. Over 2,000 medals commemorate physicians, surgeons and epidemics. The room itself was built in 1905 as a library, on the second floor of the École de Médecine.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,787 contributors worldwide.
