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Origin and history

The Paul Éluard Museum of Art and History is the municipal museum of Saint-Denis, founded in 1901 and installed since 1981 in the old Carmel of the city, a building classified as a historical monument in 1978. This Carmel, founded in 1625 by seven nuns from Amiens, is the 37th establishment of the Carmelite Order in France. It was deeply marked by the presence of Louise of France, daughter of Louis XV, who entered in 1770 and carried out important restoration work, including the construction of a neo-classical chapel by architect Richard Mique.

The chapel, now classified, served as a court from 1895 to 1983 before being reinstated in the museum. Carmel, saved from destruction in 1972 by the municipality, now houses various collections: medieval archaeology, 17th and 18th century religious art, the Paris Commune and the 1870 war, as well as a literary fund dedicated to Paul Éluard. The museum received the European Museum Prize in 1983 for its museum approach, preserving the spirit of the place.

The architecture of Carmel, with its cloister, austere cells and 174 mystical painted sentences, bears witness to its spiritual past. These carefully restored elements offer visitors an immersion in the religious and social history of Saint-Denis. The chapel, decorated with sculptures by Joseph Deschamps, illustrates the transition between the Hellenizing style and neo-classicism. The museum also showcases collections of decorative arts, ceramics, and historical documents, while maintaining traces of urban archaeological excavations in the region.

The museum is part of an effort to enhance local heritage, in connection with the history of the Seine-Saint-Denis and Île-de-France. Its installation in the old Carmel, after decades of judicial use, symbolizes the re-appropriation of a place full of history by the community. Permanent and temporary exhibitions explore themes ranging from archaeology to contemporary art, to the social and religious history of the region.

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