Heritage Days 2024

Mines Paris – PSL is offering free access to its heritage on Saturday September 21 and Sunday September 22. Reserve your time slot for this free national event (reservations available between 10am and 5:15pm, for a one-hour visit).

Registration here

Open house, free admission

On September 21 and 22, 2024, the École Supérieure des Mines de Paris is open to all, with a discovery tour of the Hôtel Vendôme, built in the early 18th century, and in which the École des Mines moved in the early 19th century.

Unguided tours can be booked in advance from 10am to 5:15pm. Free reservation is recommended but not compulsory – priority access will be given to those with a reservation.

The Hôtel Vendôme and its garden

Since 1815, the École Supérieure des Mines de Paris has been housed in the Hôtel de Vendôme, which dates back to the very early 18th century and was extended in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Visitors can explore the Vendôme building and its garden overlooking the greenhouses of the Jardin de Luxembourg.

One-way access will be available from the orchid greenhouses of the Jardin du Luxembourg.

View of the historic early 18th-century façade of the Hôtel Vendôme, with its terrace and garden overlooking the greenhouses of the Jardin du Luxembourg. Credit: Mines Paris – PSL / T. Vaerman.

The Library

The reading room and its glass roof, as well as the offices of the Mines Paris – PSL Library, decorated with period woodwork, open their doors on the occasion of these days.

A selection of works of art, antiquarian books, manuscripts and archival documents will be on display along the way. Particular emphasis will be placed on the travel diaries of 19th-century students and the travel accounts of teachers and engineers who have left their mark on the history of the École.

In the wake of the Olympic Games, visitors will also be able to visit the archive exhibition “Snapshots of sport at the École”: sport in all its forms, from links with teaching to sporting competitions in which École students and staff have distinguished themselves!

The reading room of the Bibliothèque Mines Paris – PSL. Credit: Bibliothèque Mines Paris – PSL.

The Mineralogy Museum

For over 200 years, the mineralogical collections of the École des Mines de Paris, housed in the Hôtel de Vendôme, have been among the most comprehensive and spectacular in the world. They contain some 100,000 samples, 4,000 of which are displayed in showcases: minerals, rocks, precious stones (including gems from the French Crown Jewels) and meteorites are all on show in an 80-metre gallery of priceless historical and heritage interest.

Une des nombreuses vitrines du musée de Minéralogie.

Crédit : Musée de Minéralogie Mines Paris – PSL / E. Gaillou.

Students and staff on hand to answer your questions

Mines Paris – PSL is opening up much more than just its heritage for these days: along the way, students and staff from the École will be on hand to answer your questions about this prestigious institution.