NRP-FRA-002 · FRANCE · NRP
Hôtel de Soubise
Plan a visit
Regular public visits — The National Archives museum offers free independent admission to the Hôtel de Soubise, including its museum route and princely salons. It closes Tuesdays, 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. The entrance is through the central courtyard door; admission does not open every Archives building.
Booking: Independent museum entry is free; check separate arrangements for guided visits and events.
Official source / visitor information
Source review: 2026-10-12.
Princely Hôtel Particulier
History & Character
François de Rohan-Soubise and Anne Chabot de Rohan acquired the former Hôtel de Guise in 1700. Their Paris residence expressed the family’s standing at the court of Louis XIV. Pierre Alexis Delamair transformed its entrance into a monumental courtyard framed by paired columns.
Germain Boffrand later reshaped the reception and private apartments. His oval pavilion and the decoration developed during the 1730s brought together painting, sculpture and elaborate ornament. Artists including Charles Natoire and François Boucher contributed to rooms that are important examples of the rocaille style.
The state acquired the mansion in 1808 for the imperial archives. From 1867 its ceremonial apartments housed the Archives nationales museum. The building therefore preserves an aristocratic domestic setting within a later archival institution, with earlier Clisson and Guise history underlying the Rohan transformation.
Sources for this description
Description checked 9 October 2026.
Type: Princely Hôtel Particulier
Place: Le Marais, Paris
Provenance: Residence of the Rohan-Soubise family; assigned to the State Archives under Napoleon I in 1808.
Can You Visit?
Access status: open_regularly
Museum, princely apartments and exhibitions open free; scheduled guided visits also offered.
Useful Links
For the latest access review, see Plan Your Visit above.
Palace Profile & Official Website
Summary from the existing catalogue; the historical description has not been fully re-audited in this release.
Official source / visitor information
Access: The National Archives museum offers free independent admission to the Hôtel de Soubise, including its museum route and princely salons. It closes Tuesdays, 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. The entrance is through the central courtyard door; admission does not open every Archives building.
Sources
Annual Visitor Statistics
No verified annual attendance figures have been entered. This does not mean zero visitors or that no statistics exist.
Interiors and collections
Boffrand’s oval pavilion
Germain Boffrand added an oval pavilion in 1735 at the junction between the reception apartments and private rooms. Curved window openings bring garden light into the interior. This arrangement connects the ceremonial sequence of salons with the household’s more private accommodation.
A collaborative rocaille interior
From 1736, Boffrand concentrated on the decoration, working with artists including François Boucher, Charles Natoire, Jean-Baptiste II Lemoyne and Jacques Verberckt. Painting, sculpture and architectural ornament formed a coordinated ensemble. The Archives nationales identifies these salons as outstanding examples of the rocaille taste associated with Louis XV’s reign.
From princely rooms to museum galleries
The state acquired Soubise in 1808 for the imperial archives. In 1867 the Archives museum began occupying its state rooms. The rooms therefore have two histories to read together: a princely household’s reception interiors and their subsequent use for the display of archival collections.
Related owners: Rohan-Soubise family.
Official sources
Sources checked 10 October 2026.