We recently wrote about the reopening of the completely-renovated Cluny Museum near our hotels, a project that has been ongoing for around a decade to reorganise the permanent collection, bring the museum up to modern standards and make every room accessible to wheelchair users, finally!

As it’s a world-class museum just minutes away from us, we were very eager to get down there (as were a lot of people apparently – it was very busy!).

Here’s our photo report to give a taste of what await you. Even if you don’t think you’re very interested by the middle Ages, it’s an essential visit, really eye-opening. Take a look!

If you’ve visited the Cluny Museum in the past, back when entrance was through the courtyard, you may remember how dismal and tatty it had become. Well, things have changed, and the new museum is a complete overhaul that will make you want to go back and see for yourself.

Entry is now through a new building on rue du Sommerard, which has been closed to traffic and cobbled. There’s now much more space for individual visitors and groups, and the gift shop (through which you are unsurprisingly obliged to exit) is bigger too.

The day of our visit, we arrived at the same time as two school classes. Despite making the place busy, we were still able to get our ticket and enter without too much hassle.

The visit is well signposted with twenty-one rooms to visit (although it’s actually a little more, as some rooms are actually two or three) and it all starts with the extremely impressive frigidarium, which is huge. You feel immediately transported to ancient Rome! And as the visit goes on, many more surprises await, with different sizes, styles of room and exhibits…

After these impressive stone rooms, the exhibition spaces are a little more ‘traditional’, with wooden floors, beamed ceilings and old fireplaces.

Some rooms look out onto the gardens (unfortunately closed, as they weren’t included in the renovation), the stained glass windows are magnificent, and you’ll pass through the courtyard which used to be the museum entrance. Part of it is now the terrace of the café! What a setting for a coffee and cake…

There are still a few surprises in store during your visit. For example, when you leave one room, enter another, and suddenly find yourself in a high-ceilinged stone chapel. It’s quite a shock!

As you might have gathered, the museums is several buildings brought together, and you’ll often get a glimpse of another room you crossed several minutes ago, or a close-up view of a detail you could only previously see from far away. It’s quite a labyrinth, with the sizes of the rooms as diverse as the exhibits they contain.

The museum is renowned for its tapestries, of inestimable historical value, so it’s only logical that the most famous of them all – The Lady and the Unicorn – serves as the culmination of the visit, in a newly-furbished room with subtle lighting and central seating allowing you to take in every detail.

This may be the last part of the permanent collection, but it’s not yet the end of your visit! There’s still a large room used for temporary exhibitions, another room explaining the evolution of the building and museum over the centuries.

It’s here you’ll see both a painting and a photo of the same part of the building, taken / created many many years apart. See if you can find the subtle changes over the years!

We are so lucky to have this great museum just minutes away from our hotels, and now it’s more beautiful than ever!

Don’t forget that many different guided visits are organised (one with singing, one with dancing…) that all the info during the visit is now translated into English (and Spanish), and that the museum is now proudly 100% accessible to wheelchair users (and it wasn’t easy, with the 27 differences of level).

Why not follow the museum’s socials so you stay updated with their activities, and please do go and visit yourself! You won’t be disappointed.

---

The Cluny Museum, the National Museum of the Middle Ages (here) is open every day of the week except Mondays from 9.30am-6.15pm (last entry at 5.30pm)

Late-night opening every third Thursday of the month, from 6.15-9pm (last ticket at 8.30pm) at the special rate of 10€

Admission: 12€ / 10€

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

#MoyenAgeNouvelleGeneration

What3Words ///perfect.option.worth

Voir cette publication sur Instagram

Une publication partagée par Musée de Cluny (@museecluny)