Cluny Museum visitor guide

Visit Cluny Museum, Paris

The Cluny Museum is a museum of medieval and religious art situated at 28, Rue de Sommerard, in the Sorbonne area of the Latin Quarter, in the 5th arrondissement of Paris (so to the south of the river).

Discover Cluny Museum

France This Way review: the Cluny Museum has a remarkable collection, primarily of medieval arts and other objects including tapestries, and I am confident you will find it fascinating even if you tthink you have no interest in medieval art! It is one of our favourite museums in Paris

Statues from Notre-Dame cathedral

The museum is situated in an imposing gothic style mansion with impressive stone decorations, turrets and window surrounds that is itself very impressive. The mansion was once home to the abbots from Cluny Abbey.

As you explore the museum, make sure to look at the ceilings and other characteristics of the rooms that contain the artefacts - the rooms are often as impressive as the items displayed!

As you explore the museum you will see hundreds of artefacts, including paintings and sculptures, religious art, stained glass, stone carvings and jewellery. Many of these items have come from churches across France.

Of course, many of the items are of a religious nature, which is not surprising given that religious belief played such a large role in medieval life and art.

One of the first rooms you reach, and one of the most interesting in Cluny Museum, contains the busts and statues of the Kings of Judas that once formed part of the facade of the Cathedral Notre-Dame - the statues that are now on the cathedral were a 19th century replacement for these more ancients statues.

The statues we see in the Cluny museum were removed from the cathedral after the revolution, and believed lost, until they were discovered during excavation works in Paris in 1977, and are now a remarkable collection of 13th century statues.

There is little point in my explaining lots of the items here - you can see the photo gallery further down this page for some examples of what you can expect to see - but be assured that there are a remarkable number of interesting items that will attract you attention.

But because I am a chess player I will give special mention to the decorated glass painting called The Chess Players, a 14th century artwork. Dressed in clothes of the period and in sumptious surroundings, the male player is apparently claiming victory, and the lady is signaling that the game is not over yet - in any case the detail and art is remarkable!

Most of the artefacts have useful information boards in French, English and Spanish so you know what you are looking at.

You can also see the Roman baths that form part of the Cluny Museum, although their presentation is not very effective for one of the oldest examples of architecture in Paris- if they were in a separate location I think they would have been better exposed and a visit made informative, but here the visit seems rather neglected.

Lady and the Unicorn

One of the collections of items for which the museum is best known is also one of the last rooms you reach - a room full of tapestries that make up the series called Lady and the Unicorn. The room is quite dark with a light on each tapestry which creates a suitably evocative mood (and presumably helps to preserve the tapestries).

These six tapestries date from the 14th century and are very detailed, with thousands of floral designs behind the various scenes. It is thought that five of the six tapestries represent the five senses, although the meaning of the 6th tapestry is unknown.

Lady and the Unicorn tapestry

Visiting Cluny Museum

The closest metro station the Cluny Museum is the Cluny - La Sorbonne station on line 10 of the Paris metro. The station is on Boulevard Saint-Germain very close to the museum - follow Rue de Cluny to reach Rue de Sommerard and the museum.

The museum is open every day except Monday, from 9.30 to 18.15, with an entrance charge payable, around 14 euros. Note that, as with several attractions in Paris, the Cluny Museum is free to visit on the first Sunday of each month.

We suggest you allow about two hours to visit the museum.

Attractions nearby

Among the places of interest in the Latin Quarter are the Pantheon and the Jardin du Luxembourg, to the south of the museum Cluny, and the Church Saint-Severin to the north. You can also see the buildings of the Sorbonne, one of the oldest universities in the world, nearby.

You can find more travel ideas in the Paris region guide.

To make travel arrangements to visit Cluny Museum see HERE

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Photos of Cluny Museum

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See complete Cluny Museum Photo Gallery

Map of Cluny Museum and places nearby

Places to visit near Cluny Museum

Church Saint-Severin

The Church Saint-Severin is the oldest church south of the river in Paris, and features flamboyant gothic architecture and stained glass windows

Church Saint-Severin guide

Church Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre

The Church Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre is an ancient church next to Square René Viviani in Paris

Church Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre guide

Square René Viviani

The Square René-Viviani in the centre of Paris has views of Notre-Dame and the oldest tree in Paris

Square René Viviani guide

Shakespeare and Company

Shakespeare and Company is a historic bookshop and literary centre in the 5th arrondissement

Shakespeare and Company guide

Notre Dame cathedral

The Cathedral of Notre-Dame, on an island in the Seine River, is one of the most remarkable gothic cathedrals in the world

Notre Dame cathedral guide

Pantheon

The 18th century Pantheon was originally to be a church based on the pantheon in Rome, but is actually used as a temple to honour the great and good from the world of French arts

Pantheon guide

The French version of this page is at Cluny Museum (Francais)