Heritage Days 2024 at the Hôtel de Salm, Grand Chancellery of the Legion of Honor and museum

Owned by the Grande Chancellerie, theHôtel de Salm is a beautiful building on the banks of the Seine, near the Assemblée Nationale and the Musée d'Orsay. For the Journées du Patrimoine 2024, on September 21 and 22, discover the Palais de la Grande Chancellerie and the Musée de la Légion d'Honneur.

While theHôtel de Salm is still used by the Grand Chancellor for receptions and the distribution of the Crosses of the Legion of Honor, the establishment is also open to the public through the Musée de la Légion d'Honneur. On display are official texts and period documents, as well as sketches of the insignia, photographs and films of ceremonies which retrace the history of theOrder of Merit .

It explains the reasons for the creation of this Order, officially created on December 3, 1963 by General de Gaulle, but initiated by General Catroux, with the aim of"rewarding distinguished merit" who had not devoted the twenty years of service to France required for the Légion d'Honneur, or foreign merit.

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Renovated at the beginning of 2016, the museum has been given a facelift with new works, a new museum scenography and a digital touch with interactive screens, to give a more playful and educational side to the visit. At the end of the tour, you'll also discover the plaster statue of General de Gaulle, donated in 2013 by sculptor Cardot to the museum after the Order's fiftieth anniversary exhibition. It's the perfect way to discover and enter a little more deeply into the exclusive world of the Legion of Honor.

2024 Heritage Days program at the Hôtel de Salm - Musée de la Légion d'Honneur :

• A thousand years of history through decorations from around the world
  September 21 and 22
  

  Following a tour of the reception rooms and decision-making areas of the Grand Chancellery of the Legion of Honor, the itinerary invites you to discover the Museum of the Legion of Honor and the Orders of Chivalry.
  The permanent collections enable you to discover the history of national and foreign orders, from over 120 states around the world.
  To coincide with the Paris 2024 Games, the museum is presenting the exhibition "Sports and Honors - Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together", highlighting the progressive recognition given to sportsmen and women and the people who have advanced these disciplines from the end of the 19th century to the present day.
  The exhibition route takes visitors through the exhibition rooms and then into the museum's permanent collections. The place of sport in society is evoked through a number of figures - athletes, federation representatives and volunteers - and their decorations, personal objects and video testimonials. The exhibition has been awarded the "Cultural Olympiad" label by the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committee.

  
  
  

• Visit to the Palace of the Legion of Honor
  September 21 and 22
  

  During your visit, discover the strategic locations of the Legion of Honor: the Salle du Conseil de l'Ordre, where decisions on the awarding of national decorations are made, and the Grand Chancellor's office. We then invite you into the gardens and reception rooms of the palace, where the Grand Chancellor's investiture ceremonies take place, and finally to discover the institution's museum.