Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France - SpottingHistory.com

The Musée d'Orsay was built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. It houses the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces in the world, by painters including Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gauguin and Van Gogh. Many of these works were held at the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume prior to the museum's opening in 1986.

The museum building was originally a railway station, Gare d'Orsay, constructed for the Chemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans and finished in time for the 1900 Exposition Universelle to the design of three architects: Lucien Magne, Émile Bénard and Victor Laloux. It was the terminus for the railways of southwestern France until 1939.

By 1939 the station's short platforms had become unsuitable for the longer trains that had come to be used for mainline services. After 1939 it was used for suburban services and part of it became a mailing centre during World War II. It was then used as a set for several films, such as Kafka's The Trial adapted by Orson Welles, and as a haven for the Renaud–Barrault Theatre Company and for auctioneers, while the Hôtel Drouot was being rebuilt.

User Reviews

Martin Ewen (2 years ago)
Superb museum with plenty to see. We spent over 4 hours here and thoroughly enjoyed it. Also had our breakfast and dinner as well which was really nice. Going back this April as a lot changes every now and again, and will have changed.

Tom Marvel (2 years ago)
Awesome museum experience for a reasonable price. Had a mixture of everything from paintings to sculptures to home furniture. I'd highly recommend buying tickets in advance as the line to buy them at the door can get extremely long. If you make it there without tickets, they do have free wifi and you can purchase them directly from your phone.

Andy Duvall (2 years ago)
There are many reasons why this is one of the most important museums in the world, and stands out even in Paris where there is so much to do and see. Beautiful architecture and breathtaking artwork of course, but the ambiance and even the restaurant are noteworthy. Save yourself some hassle and a long wait in line by buying your tickets online for a small fee. I bought mine online with my phone when I arrived, and walked to the reserved ticket entrance bypassing a line of a couple hundred people.

dillyjanjan (2 years ago)
I visited this Museum with my toddler sleeping in a stroller. I was really concerned that there would be only steps but this place had ramps on either side of the exhibits. How wonderful. It wasn't crowded. We didn't even buy tickets online. The queues moved quickly. It was a fantastic experience even though my son missed everything. I would recommend this place for ppl with small kids. there is also a food stall outside with the best sandwiches.

Artem Aleksandrovich Kost (3 years ago)
It is located parallel to the Louvre but on the opposite side of the Seine river. I recommend to go there through the bridge of love. In my opinion it is way better than the Louvre! It has several modern masterpieces of famous artists, and a dedicated hall to each artist. The atmosphere is quiet (as opposed to the Louvre) and relaxing. The only drawback is that there is no English translation to the descriptions of the pictures... so you have to take the audio guides (which don't cover all the exponents in the museum). All in all it is one of the best museum in Paris!!!!!

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Cesis Castle

German crusaders known as the Livonian Brothers of the Sword began construction of the Cēsis castle (Wenden) near the hill fort in 1209. When the castle was enlarged and fortified, it served as the residence for the Order's Master from 1237 till 1561, with periodic interruptions. Its ruins are some of the most majestic castle ruins in the Baltic states. Once the most important castle of the Livonian Order, it was the official residence for the masters of the order.

In 1577, during the Livonian War, the garrison destroyed the castle to prevent it from falling into the control of Ivan the Terrible, who was decisively defeated in the Battle of Wenden (1578).

In 1598 it was incorporated into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Wenden Voivodship was created here. In 1620 Wenden was conquered by Sweden. It was rebuilt afterwards, but was destroyed again in 1703 during the Great Northern War by the Russian army and left in a ruined state. Already from the end of the 16th century, the premises of the Order's castle were adjusted to the requirements of the Cēsis Castle estate. When in 1777 the Cēsis Castle estate was obtained by Count Carl Sievers, he had his new residence house built on the site of the eastern block of the castle, joining its end wall with the fortification tower.

Since 1949, the Cēsis History Museum has been located in this New Castle of the Cēsis Castle estate. The front yard of the New Castle is enclosed by a granary and a stable-coach house, which now houses the Exhibition Hall of the Museum. Beside the granary there is the oldest brewery in Latvia, Cēsu alus darītava, which was built in 1878 during the later Count Sievers' time, but its origins date back to the period of the Livonian Order. Further on, the Cēsis Castle park is situated, which was laid out in 1812. The park has the romantic characteristic of that time, with its winding footpaths, exotic plants, and the waters of the pond reflecting the castle's ruins. Nowadays also one of the towers is open for tourists.

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