The Grand Palais is a monument located on the edge of the Champs-Élysées, opposite the Petit Palais, from which it is separated by Avenue Winston-Churchill, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris (France). Its 77,000 m2 regularly hosts trade shows and exhibitions.
The Grand Palais is served nearby by Paris metro lines (M) (1) (13) at Champs-Élysées – Clemenceau station, lines (M) (1) (9) at Franklin D. Roosevelt station, as well as by RATP bus lines 28, 32, 42, 73, 80.
The “Grand Palais des Beaux-Arts” was built in Paris in 1897, for the Universal Exhibition scheduled from April 15 to November 12, 1900, in place of the vast but uncomfortable Palais de l’Industrie of 1855.
By decree of June 12, 1975, the nave is classified as a historic monument. A new decree of November 6, 2000 protects the Grand Palais in its entirety.
The Grand Palais has a major police station in the basement whose officers help protect the exhibits on show in the Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, particularly the picture exhibition “salons”: the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux Arts, Salon d’Automne, and Salon Comparaisons. The building’s west wing also contains a science museum, the Palais de la Découverte.
It was the host venue of the 2010 World Fencing Championships.
It was used during the final stage of the Tour de France in 2017, as part of the promotion for Paris’ 2024 Summer Olympics bid. The riders rode through the Palais en route to the Champs Élysées.
The Grand Palais temporarily closed to the public in March 2021 for significant renovation works. It will re-open in time for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where it will host the fencing and taekwondo events.
It is planned that the Grand Palais will re-open to the public in the Spring of 2025. While it is shut, exhibitions that would otherwise be held there will be hosted by other locations, such as the Grand Palais Éphémère and the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris and the Palais de la Bourse in Marseille.
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