A museum with character
Behind its peaceful walls, the museum harbours a remarkable piece of history. Housed in a former Carmelite convent, the Paul Éluard Museum of Art and History is a place where you constantly move from one era to the next, from a 17th-century cloister to the works and artefacts that tell the story of Saint-Denis and its inhabitants.
Here, the walls are part of the tour. A chapel, a cloister, gardens, stones that have witnessed generations of nuns… then, as you round a corner into a room, a work of art, an archaeological artefact or a document that tells a completely different story.
The collections range from archaeology to the fine arts, including the work of Paul Eluard and the magnificent collection on the Paris Commune. Indeed, the museum houses one of the world’s most significant collections dedicated to this major episode in French history.
With our guide, we’ll piece together the puzzle: why did this convent become a museum? How has Saint-Denis changed over the centuries? What do the artworks and artefacts tell us about the people who lived here? A lively way to discover the collections, but above all to understand the city that surrounds them.
A tour for those who love museums that go off the beaten track, places with a soul, and stories you won’t find in every guidebook.







