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Hôtel de Soubise (National Archives)
Museum of the History of France
|  | | 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois
75003 Paris |
Subway : |
Rambuteau (ligne 11), Hôtel de Ville ( lignes 1 et 11), Saint-Paul (ligne 1) | | RER : | RER A, B et D (Châtelet Les Halles) | | Bus : | lignes 29-75-96 |
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Spoken languages : French
Background:
14th century: The Hôtel de Soubise is built on the site of what used to be home of Olivier de Clisson, the French commander in chief in 1380. All that remains of the original building is the large fortified door, flanked by two towers, at 58 rue des Archives.
16th century: In 1553, the family Guise bought the mansion, together with several plots of surrounding land, and rebuilt the mansion, which they decorated luxuriously.
During the 16th century, this, the home of the Guise family, was the scene of many royal festivities as well as tragic events.
It was in this house that the Catholic Ligue had its headquarters during the War of the Religions, here that the plan for the “Saint Barthélemy massacre†of 1572 was developed as was the “Day of the Barricades†in 1588, following which Henry III had to flee to Blois.
18th century: In 1700, the mansion was bought by the Duke of Rohan, Prince of Soubise. In 1704, Pierre-Alexis Delamair was hired to oversee the renovation of the building, and it was Delamair who designed the huge courtyard giving on the Rue des Francs-Bourgeois. On the far side of the courtyard is a façade with twin colonnades topped by statues representing the four seasons (sculptures by Le Lorrain).
In 1708, Delamair was replaced by Boffrand who carried out all the interior decorating.
At the time of the French Revolution, the building was given to the National Archives, which were finally installed there twenty years later.
20th century: Today, the Hôtel de Soubise is the Museum of the History of France (National Archives).
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