Orsay Museum

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Orsay Museum, or Musee d’Orsay, is a famous and unusual art museum on the left bank of the Seine.

Like the museum at Atocha in Madrid, this one too began life as a railway station in the 19th century.

The Gare d’Orsay station was completed just in time for the 1900 Paris Exposition, and served as a major terminus for south-western railways until the outbreak of the Second World War, although it continued to be used for suburban services, and then as a mailing centre.

Its role as a major museum dates to 1977, when the decision to convert it was made, and it was completed in 1986. The museum is striking in its interior design, with many original features of its industrial function left intact, and the overall impression is of a huge, refreshing space very unlike the standard art gallery environment.

The museum is built on three levels, and the works on display show a progression in the history of art, from the old masters of the Louvre at one extreme, to the modern art collections of the Pompidou Centre at the other.

Works include furniture, photographs, painting, sculpture, cinema, music and much more, covering the period from 1848 to 1914. There are also conference facilities, and discussions centred on temporary exhibits, so all in all, it’s a thriving and invigorating centre of the arts in all its facets, rather than a static exhibition space.

The Orsay Museum is closed on Mondays, but opens from 10am to 9.45pm the rest of the week. Admission is nine Euros, with reductions for students and others, free for under-18s.