Architecture in Paris

Discover 28 places to experience unusual architecture in Paris.

Lavatory de La Madeleine

This renovated Art Nouveau bathroom from 1905 is worth the price of admission.

Bouillon Chartier

For more than a century, Parisians have come for affordable dishes in a grand converted train station.

Lempicka's Former Studio

Former home to Polish artist Tamara de Lempicka's dazzling Art Deco duplex studio.

The wall of Philip II Augustus.

The Wall of Philip II Augustus

The remains of the medieval wall that once surrounded Paris with ties to the construction of the Louvre.

Fontaine de la Croix-du-Trahoir.

Fontaine de la Croix-du-Trahoir

Executions were once held near this beautiful 18th-century fountain.

Mascarons of Pont Neuf

If you look closely at the oldest bridge in Paris, you might notice hundreds of ugly faces leering from its sides.

Cinémathèque Française

Cinémathèque Française

This lesser-known Frank Gehry building houses a treasure trove of cinema history.

Nave of the church.

Notre-Dame-de-Lorette

Claude Monet was baptized in this lavishly ornate Paris church.

Permanently Closed

Le Stryge.

Le Stryge

This demon atop the Notre-Dame de Paris looks utterly bored.

Notre Dame du Travail Church.

Notre Dame du Travail Church

The industrial architecture honors the laborers who brought the Exposition Universelle of 1900 to life.

What looks like an ordinary building is actually a wall.

145 Rue Lafayette

What looks like a normal building is really a hollow facade hiding a subway vent.

Angels around

Napoleon's Angels

Twelve grave-faced marble angels guard the emperor's tomb at Les Invalides.

Exterior of Centre Pompidou

Centre Pompidou

An "inside out" building in the historical center of Paris, featuring Europe’s largest modern art museum.

The Reading Room as it appears today, pre-renovations

Labrouste Reading Room

This off-limits room in the National Library of France is home to a system of pneumatic tubes, once used to bring books to readers.

A relic of St. Genevieve

The Relics of St. Genevieve at St-Etienne-du-Mont

The remaining relics of the patroness of Paris lie in a chapel under a striking double spiral staircase.

Le Louxor Palais du Cinema

Egyptian Revival movie palace abandoned for decades and restored in 2013.