New museum of French monuments opens in Paris
A new Museum of French Monuments offering a walk through 800 years of history in architecture (from medieval churches to futuristic apartments) opened in Paris on Monday. It’s a $111 million project inaugurated by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The new museum, Cite de l’architecture et du patrimoine (City of Architecture and Heritage) is housed in a wing of the Chaillot Palace. There are three main galleries spread out over 8,000 square meters. The galleries feature paintings and some 350 works taken from various churches. Copies of wall-mounted works and murals from between the 12th and 16th century are also on display in one of the galleries. Also, there are many designs of modern architecture and the re-creation of an apartment from the ultra-modern Cite Radieuse in Marseille by the architect Le Corbusier. Museum officials hope to draw 500,000 visitors a year.