Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Pompadour pavilion, also called Carré de Baudouin, is a madness (recreational house) built in the 18th century in the 20th arrondissement of Paris. Originally a resort, it was redesigned in 1770 by Pierre-Louis Moreau-Desproux for Nicolas Carré de Baudouin, who added a neoclassical facade with ionic columns. The site later became the property of the Goncourt brothers, who partially lived there as a child.

In 1836 the sisters of Saint Vincent de Paul set up an orphanage there, the Asylum of the Little Orphans, completed by a chapel. From 1971 to 1992, the site will house a medical and social centre and a home for young workers. Repurchased by the City of Paris in 2003, the pavilion was rehabilitated and reopened in 2007 as a free cultural space, including exhibitions, auditorium and popular university. Its adjacent garden, created in 2005, also houses urban art works.

Ranked a Historic Monument since 1928, the pavilion experienced a record attendance in 2018 with 90,000 visitors for an exhibition dedicated to Willy Ronis. Today, it combines 18th century architectural heritage and contemporary programming, while sheltering associations and a house of secularism.

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