Hôtel de Sens, private mansion of the archbishops of Sens built at the end of the 15th century

Hôtel de Sens
1 rue du Figuier 75004 (Bibliothèque Forney)

(métro Saint-Paul, Pont-Marie)

Alongside the Hôtel de Cluny, this is one of the rare examples of medieval civil architecture in Paris. The hôtel was built between 1475 and 1519 as the Paris residence of Tristan de Salazar, Archbishop of Sens. Paris did not become an archdiocese until 1623, and before that date, the Bishop of Paris was under the jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of Sens. Thus, members of prominent families such as the Guise and the Bourbon stayed here. In the early 16th century, Henri IV housed his ex-wife, the eccentric Queen Margot, here. It was she who had the fig tree cut down because it obstructed the passage of her carriage—the tree gave its name to the street. Later, the hôtel was rented out for various purposes without being maintained, falling into severe disrepair by the time the City of Paris purchased it in 1916. The restoration amounted to a near-complete reconstruction: the building retained its irregular medieval layout around the courtyard and its keep dating from 1475, but the rest was rebuilt between 1936 and 1962. Today, the Hôtel de Sens houses the Forney Library, dedicated to the decorative arts.

Bibliothèque Forney, 1 rue du Figuier (www)

(tel. 01 42 78 14 60, open from 1 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays)

Founded in 1886 thanks to a bequest from industrialist Forney, it was originally intended to serve as a documentation center for Parisian craftsmen. Today, it offers art and architecture enthusiasts books and magazines, as well as slides and posters.