The Grand Palais in the open air
After being closed for twelve years, the immense nave of the Grand Palais re-opened to the public on 17 September 2005, on the occasion of the 22nd European Heritage Days. For a fortnight, thousands of Parisians and foreign tourists were able to admire this jewel of Art Nouveau architecture, floodlit until midnight each evening and which closed again the day before the fourth Nuit Blanche (sleepless night) festival on 2 October. Built, like the Petit Palais and Pont Alexandre III, for the 1900 World Fair, the Grand Palais was listed as a historic monument in 2000 and is used as a venue for major shows, fairs and cultural exhibitions.
Work of titanic proportions
- A building 240 metres long and 40 metres high.
- Restoration of the immense glass roof measuring 15,000 square metres.
- Repair of the ironwork weighing 8,500 tonnes and measuring 35 metres in height.
- Improvement of the dome, the top of which stands 45 metres above the ground, with new lighting consisting of 12,000 lightbulbs.
- 1,850 cement columns added to part of the load-bearing walls.
- A total budget of 101.36 million euros, funded by the Ministry of Culture and Communication.
Élodie Bui
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