Musée de la Légion d'honneur
# Musée de la Légion d'honneur

The Musée national de la Légion d'honneur et des ordres de chevalerie (French for "National museum of the Legion of Honour and of orders of chivalry") is a French national museum of orders of merit and orders of chivalry. It is located in the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur beside the Musée d'Orsay at 2, rue de la Légion-d'Honneur, in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France. It is open daily except Monday and Tuesday; admission is free. The nearest métro and RER stations are Musée d'Orsay, Solférino, and Assemblée Nationale.

## History

The museum is housed within the Hôtel de Salm, built in 1782 by architect Pierre Rousseau for Frederick III, Prince of Salm-Kyrburg. The building burned in 1871 during the Paris Commune, and it subsequently was restored by a subscription of medallists. Since 1804, this building has been called the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur, and it is the seat of France's highest honours: the Légion d'honneur (1802), the Médaille militaire (1852), and the Ordre national du Mérite (1963).

Today's museum was created in 1925. It displays a history of France's honours, medals, decorations, and chivalric orders from the time of King Louis XI to the present, including Napoleonic souvenirs and more than 300 portraits. A special section is dedicated to foreign orders. Its library and archives contain more than 3,000 works.

