Grand Palais and Petit Palais

You are on the avenue that the 1900 World's Fair cut between the Seine and the Champs-Élysées. For that fair, which drew tens of millions of visits, these two palaces were built facing each other, like a permanent stage set.

1An iron skeleton in stone clothing

The Grand Palais combines two eras: classical stone façades with columns and statues, and behind them a vast nave of iron and glass, one of the largest glazed roofs in Europe. Several architects worked on it, including Henri Deglane, Albert Louvet and Albert Thomas, coordinated by Charles Girault. It has hosted art salons, motor shows, horse shows and, at the 2024 Olympic Games, the fencing events.

2The little big museum

Opposite, the Petit Palais, by Girault himself, is now the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts. Its gilded gate and its inner garden, with colonnades and mosaics, are among the most pleasant corners of the area. Its collections range from antiquity to the twentieth century, with works by Rembrandt, Courbet and Monet.

After a long restoration, the Grand Palais fully reopened in 2025.

3What to look out for

• The bronze chariot groups on the corners of the Grand Palais roof, by Georges Récipon.
• The monumental gilded gate of the Petit Palais.
• The statue of Winston Churchill, by Jean Cardot, after whom the avenue is named.