MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE (SORBONNE UNIVERSITY). PARIS. FRANCE.

The château was built by the Gouffier family after Charles VII granted the lands to Guillaume Gouffier in the mid-fifteenth century. Claude Gouffier, Grand Equerry to Henry II, assembled an outstanding collection: paintings, taxidermy, marine objects, scientific instruments, globes. Some of the paintings are now in the Louvre.

Claude Gouffier served as the model for the Marquis de Carabas in Charles Perrault's fairy tale Puss in Boots. Later the château belonged to Madame de Montespan, mistress of Louis XIV. In 1793 it was ransacked by revolutionaries and stood abandoned for many years.

Today the cabinet of curiosities of Claude Gouffier has been recreated inside the château, with taxidermy hanging from the ceiling, marine objects, and scientific instruments. Alongside it lives the contemporary art collection Curios et Mirabilia: 80 works in the spirit of the Renaissance, engaging hearing, smell, and touch.

The Museum of the History of Medicine, Sorbonne University, Paris.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Title: Musée d’Histoire de la Médecine

Address: 12 Rue de l'École de Médecine, 75006 Paris, France

Type: Medicine, Apothecary

Admission: open to all and subject to a fee. No booking required.

Monday – Saturday: 2:00 PM – 5:30 PM (Closed on Thursdays and Sundays)

Last admission: 5:00 PM

Closed on public holidays. Please check the official website for exceptional closures.

Official website: u-paris.fr/musee-de-lhistoire-de-la-medecine/