LE PALAIS DE CHAILLOT

The Palais de Chaillot, home to the Museums of Man and the Navy, the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine and the Théâtre national de Chaillot, is one of the capital's most imposing monuments. Located on the Chaillot hill, it replaced the Palais du Trocadéro, built for the 1878 Universal Exhibition and subsequently used for the 1889 and 1900 Universal Exhibitions. The 1930s sounded the death knell with plans for a new building for the 1937 Universal Exhibition. The ^19th-century building was replaced by the current Palais de Chaillot, designed by architects Carlu, Boileau and Azéma.

It was at this time that the esplanade was created. Designed to face the Eiffel Tower (which didn't appear until 1889), it was framed by two pavilions, extended by long curved wings. A new theater was also built under the forecourt. The neoclassical complex, with its 41,000 m², two immense pavilions and two wings surrounding the esplanade, today known as the "Esplanade des droits de l'Homme", is an impressive sight.

The complex is flanked by a vast green space offering magnificent views of the Eiffel Tower and Champ-de-Mars. In the center is the Warsaw Fountain, with 20 water cannons and several sculptures ("Flore" by Lejeune, "La Femme" by Bacqué...). Still on the subject of sculptures, the two pavilions are topped by imposing works by Delamarre and Sarrabezolles. As for the outside walls, they feature sculpted paintings: on the west wing (on the Musée de l'Homme side), an evocation of continents and navigation; on the east wing, iconography linked to sculpture and architecture. Don't miss the bronzes by Bouchard and Pommier in front of the two pavilions.

While the Art Deco-style theater (1937) is a place devoted to art, it was also the site of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948 (it was also here, at the time of the Palais du Trocadéro, that Firmin Gémier founded the Théâtre national populaire in 1920, with the aim of offering quality theater accessible to the greatest number).

The Palais de Chaillot did not escape criticism, especially in the post-war period. For some, its architecture was reminiscent of totalitarianism, an opinion backed up by shots of Hitler visiting the building in 1940. In any case, the palace became the first headquarters of the UN, created in 1946, and then of NATO until 1959.