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The Musée Rodin was inaugurated in 1919 inside the Hôtel Biron, an 18th-century mansion where Auguste Rodin once lived and worked. Rodin donated his entire collection of sculptures, drawings, and archives to the French state on the condition that the Hôtel Biron be turned into a museum dedicated to his art. Today, it showcases masterpieces such as The Thinker, The Kiss, and The Gates of Hell, alongside works by Camille Claudel. The gardens display monumental sculptures, making it one of the most unique art museums in Paris.

Founded by Louis XIV in 1670 as a royal hospital and retirement home for wounded soldiers, Hôtel des Invalides was designed by architect Libéral Bruant, with the iconic golden-domed Église du Dôme completed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in 1706.

After the French Revolution, the building was renamed Hôtel national des Invalides and gradually evolved into a patriotic symbol. In 1840, the tomb of Napoleon I was placed under the Dôme. The Musée de l’Armée, one of the world’s leading military history museums, was established in the complex by 1905.

Housed in what was once the Gare d’Orsay, a 1900 Beaux-Arts train station, the Musée d’Orsay transformed into a museum and officially opened in December 1986 after a bold renovation by Gae Aulenti and team under a plan initiated in the 1970s. It was envisioned to bridge collections between the Louvre and Centre Pompidou. Today, it hosts the world’s largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, set under soaring glass ceilings and original clocks of the old station. A major expansion, funded in part by a €20 million donation, is underway to extend gallery and educational spaces by 2026.