Grande Galerie de l’Évolution, Jardin des Plantes, since 1793

The Grande Galerie de l’Évolution belongs to the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, founded by the Convention in 1793 in the Jardin des Plantes, on the rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire side. The Muséum succeeded the Royal Garden of Medicinal Plants created by Louis XIII in 1635 and its natural history cabinet.

The collections kept growing throughout the 19th century. With the support of Adolphe Thiers, the architect Louis-Jules André built a Gallery of Zoology, opened in July 1889, just after the Eiffel Tower, under a glass roof that lit it by day. The largest specimens stood in the centre, lined up as if on parade.

Neglected, the glass roof was covered with tarpaulins in 1966 and the gallery closed. François Mitterrand added its renovation to his grands travaux; Paul Chemetov, Borja Huidobro and the designer René Allio transformed it, while the Muséum’s taxidermists restored a thousand animals. The Grande Galerie de l’Évolution opened on 21 June 1994.

In the 5th arrondissement, at the south-west corner of the Jardin des Plantes, a caravan from the African savannah crosses the nave: elephants, leopards, lions, hyenas. Beyond lie extinct and endangered species, including Louis XV’s rhinoceros from the Versailles menagerie, a children’s gallery and exhibitions downstairs.