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The Institut de France, home to the Collège des Quatre Nations, forerunner of today's grandes écoles in Paris.
From the Cour carrée of the Louvre, cross the Pont des Arts to admire the majestic dome of the Institut de France. Built in 1688 by Louis Le Vau for Cardinal Mazarin, this building housed the Collège des Quatre Nations. In 1795, following the abolition of the royal academies, the Institut was founded to extend the universalist ideal of the Enlightenment, bringing together experts from all disciplines in a deliberative assembly, a veritable "parliament of scholars". Today, there are five academies: the Académie française (1635), founded by Richelieu to unify the French language, the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres (1663), the Académie des sciences (1666), the Académie des beaux-arts (1816) and the Académie des sciences morales et politiques (1795). These prestigious institutions have nearly 500 members, writers, scholars, artists and intellectuals from France and abroad, elected by their peers to perpetuate the excellence of knowledge, support research and enlighten society. Under the famous dome, emblem of the Institute, the 40 "immortals" of the Académie française, dressed in the green habit, perpetuate this mission. In 1980, Marguerite Yourcenar became the first woman to join this prestigious circle. The Institute's intellectual life is supported by two exceptional libraries: the Mazarine and the Institut, which hold almost 2.5 million documents. La Coupole is open to visitors on Saturdays, while the libraries are open on weekdays. Facing the Louvre, this emblematic building is well worth a visit.
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