The Museum of Orsay Paris : Paris Tourism

7, quai Anatole France
1, rue de Bellechasse
75007 Paris

Timetable:
20th of June to the 20th of September:
Everyday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., closes on monday
Closes at 9.45 p.m. on thursday
Opens at 10 a.m. during winter


From the palace to the station
In the middle of the 19th Century the site of the future station of Orsay was occupied by two buildings. One of them was the barracks of the calvary, the other was the palace of Orsay (court of counts and State Council). The civil war of 1871 in Paris involved fires which burnt the palace of Orsay.

In 1871 the railway company of Orleans bought the site. Victor Lalous had the duty to integrate the station in the urban middle class setting.
Only two years were necessary to finish the construction which was inaugurated during the Universal Exhibiton of 1900. The railway passed by Nantes, Bordeaux, and Toulouse.

From the station to the museum
In 1939, the lines were abandoned and the station took little by little the appearance of a sales room, of a theatre, or was used as a movie setting…
The building was saved from destruction thanks to a new interest in the architecture of the middle of the 19th Century. It has been a Historical Monument
since the 8th March, 1978.
The museum opened on the 1stDecember, 1986. This museum of arts
is devoted to paintings and sculptures. However, photography, architecture, arts and decoration and the whole artistic production from 1848 to 1914 arre also present.