Grand Palace(French Grand Palais) in Paris is located to the left of the central street of the French capital - the Champs Elysees, this is in the 8th arrondissement of the city. Its majestic architectural appearance in the eclectic Beauz-art style is able to impress even seasoned connoisseurs of art and antiquity. It is a major cultural and exhibition center.
To the glory of French art
From April 15 to November 12, 1900, the World's Fair was held in Paris, which was attended by more than 50 million people - a number that remains a record today. For its opening, timed to coincide with the meeting of the new, XX century, it was decided to build a palace. It was planned that it will be one of the sites of the epoch-making exhibition event.
To implement the project, it was necessary to "move" the Palace of Industry that stood here, that is, to disassemble it and free up space. In 1897, the construction of this facility started. And in 1900, before the eyes of Parisians and guests of the city on the Seine, he appeared, the Grand Palais, shaking all imaginations with his appearance. On one of its gables you can see a pompous inscription that the Republic dedicated this building to the glory of French art.
The Grand Palace was rapidly gaining fame as a serious cultural center... Almost all official cultural events in the capital began to be held here. As for the World Exhibition itself, thanks to it, Paris acquired several more sights: the Eiffel Tower, the Orsay train station (now a museum here), the Pont Alexandre III.
When the Grand Palace and other objects specially built for that grandiose exhibition (we named them above) were put into operation, many skeptics predicted a short-lived fate for them. But they stand to this day, being among the most important symbols of the capital of France. In 1925, the Grand Palais became the site for another World Exhibition - Contemporary Industrial and Decorative Arts.
Architectural features of the Grand Palais
The full name of the object, accepted then: The Great Palace of Fine Arts. The entrances to it from the northeast and southeast are crowned with two copper quadrigues by Georges Resipon. Each artistic image contains its own allegory. The first - the one on the side of the Champs Elysees - symbolizes the Immortality ahead of time. The other, from the side of the Seine, personify Harmony, triumphing over discord. The roof of the building also attracts attention: it is not quite ordinary, it is glass. It is illuminated by hundreds of lights at night - an incredibly beautiful sight!
The architecture of the Grand Palais attracts attention and contrasts - a strict 240-meter facade and decorated in the Art Nouveau style, which, however, are harmoniously combined with each other. And next to Big palace there is his "younger brother" - the Small Palace (fr. Petit Palais). Although they are the same age in age: Petit-Palais was also erected for the World's Fair at the beginning of the last century. The palaces are divided by the Place Clemenceau, named after the Prime Minister of France during the First World War, Georges Benjamin Clemenceau.
The Grand Palace: Today
Today, two museums are adjacent to the palace. The north wing houses Art Gallery, and in the west - the Museum of Discoveries and Inventions. The latter appeared in 1937, when another world-scale exhibition was held in Paris. It was originally conceived as a Museum of Science, as opposed to the Museum of Arts and Crafts, which had a technical focus. Since about the 70s of the last century, the lines between them began to gradually blur. Now everything has come down to the fact that Parisian students can see within its walls the practical embodiment of the theoretical calculations he taught at school.
The art gallery does not have its own permanent exhibition. However, its territory is a venue for various artistic and cultural events. Moreover, the highest level: for example, the Chanel Fashion House holds its shows here every year. If you ask any artist or sculptor from any country in the world, he will surely tell you that exhibiting your work here means achieving a high level of recognition for your work.
Avenue Winston Churchill 75008, Paris
www.grandpalais.fr
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The Grand Palais (Grand Palace) on the Champs Elysees is a luxurious Beaux-Arts building, a major cultural and exhibition center.
It was built for the 1900 World's Fair. At first they doubted whether it would be possible to overshadow the success Eiffel tower at the last exhibition? We decided that this time the emphasis will be on art. The Grand Palais des Beaux-Arts (the full name of the Grand Palais) became part of a large-scale redevelopment of the western part of Paris.
The construction went on with difficulty. The soil could not bear the weight of the building, 3400 oak piles were needed, because of this, the estimate was greatly exceeded. A gigantic amount of stone, steel, rubble, bricks, machinery and hands was required. One and a half thousand builders also created problems - strikes broke out.
The result was worth it. There was a stately building with a steel frame, a huge glass roof, big amount statues, friezes, mosaics. Bronze quadrigues by Georges Resipon crown both wings of the facade - allegorical statues represent Immortality, ahead of time, and Harmony, triumphant over discord. The inscription on the pediment proclaims that the Republic is dedicating this building to the glory of French art.
From the very beginning, the Palace has become a venue for exhibitions - dedicated to innovation and technology and, of course, art. It was here that Matisse and Gauguin received recognition, it was here that Cubism, headed by an unknown Picasso, first declared itself.
During World War II, the building was requisitioned as a military hospital with a thousand beds. Artists and sculptors who were not subject to mobilization decorated chambers or made molds for prostheses. During the occupation, the palace was used for holding Nazi propaganda exhibitions, and during the liberation of Paris - as the headquarters of the Resistance.
Today, the Grand Palais is still an art center. Exhibitions, fashion parades (the Chanel fashion house holds its shows here), car dealerships, horse shows, book fairs, live concerts, the World Fencing Championship - it is difficult to list all the events taking place under the glass roof of the Grand Palace of Fine Arts.
The Grand Palais of Paris was built for the 1900 World's Fair. The building immediately became famous for its huge glass roof. Now this building houses a science museum. In 1900, Paris hosted the World's Fair. Due to the high importance of the event, the city planned a large construction, including the construction of the Alexander III bridge, the Grand Palace and the similar Small Palace.
With its domed glass roof, the Grand Palais is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Paris. Three different architects worked on the project, but the key role was played by the famous Frenchman Charles Giraud, who received carte blanche for the creation of the Small Palace. The structure is a magnificent combination of a classic stone façade, glass and Art Nouveau iron. 
The Grand Palais in Paris is to this day the largest building made of glass and iron. Its closest rival was the Crystal Palace in London, which was destroyed by a terrible fire. The Great Belle Époque Palace has a steel frame weighing 9,400 tons, 15,000 square meters of glass, and a zinc galvanized iron roof of about 5,000 square meters. The stone interiors are adorned with gorgeous colorful mosaics and intricate sculptures. 
When one of the cells of the Grand Palace's glass ceiling collapsed in 1993, the building was closed for ten years of renovation. The first phase of the renovation was completed in 2004 and the remainder was opened in 2007. The renovation included the repair of the metal frame, glass replacement and the restoration of the roof. Some of the masterpieces of art have also undergone a revamp, including the horse sculptures by Georges Resipon topping the corners of the palace. The mosaics have also been completely restored and restored. 
For over a century, the Grand Palace has been a public exhibition hall and host of many important events. Although the main gallery is now entirely dedicated to contemporary art, the palace hosts many interesting exhibitions- from demonstrations of vintage cars to fashion shows from leading designers in Paris. 
The Grand Palace is divided into three different areas, each with its own entrance: The Science and Technology Museum is located on Franklin Roosevelt Avenue. National Gallery The Grand Palais (main exhibition hall) is accessible from the Place Clemenceau side, and the entrance to the Neuf Grand Palais is open from Winston Churchill Avenue directly opposite the Lesser Palais.
The majestic Le Grand Palais adorns Winston Churchill Avenue in the very late XIX v. Construction of a large exhibition center in the Bose Art style began in 1897 and was completed in the spring of 1900 for the opening of the World Exhibition.
Thoughts of beauty and their embodiment
The start of the construction of the Grand Palais was preceded by a competition of architectural projects, which did not determine the only winner. According to the decision of the competition committee, the most interesting were the ideas of architects Henri Deglan, Albert Louvet, Albert Thom, and the overall coordination of the work was entrusted to Charles Giraud.
The building of the Grand Palace with a 240 m long facade was erected on a part of the territory that was previously occupied by the inadequate Palace of Industry. It represents the culmination of the development of the eclectic Beaux-Arts style. Elements of the architecture of classicism are harmoniously combined in it with the constructions of the Art Nouveau era. The Paris Grand Palace belongs to those examples of architecture at the turn of the century, when an engineer acquires equal rights with an architect in shaping the aesthetic appearance of a building.
The imposing 77,000 m2 building is located along the "republican axis" running from east to west. The large nave of the palace and the transverse paddock were designed by A. Deglan. He also owns the authorship of the colonnades along the facades, a model for which was the work of V. Laloux during the reconstruction of the Louvre.
The central part of the building, designed by A. Louvet, is covered by a magnificent dome. The weight of its metal structure and glass panels is 9 thousand tons, and highest point the vault is located at a height of 45 m. The West Wing or the Antin Palace (Palais d'Antin) was built by the architect A. Thoma. The use of a huge amount of glass in the construction of the Grand Palace allows us to call it the heir to the aesthetics of D. Paxton, who built the Crystal Palace in London in 1851.
The art of decor
Georges Recipon's monumental copper sculptural compositions are symmetrically installed on the sides of the palace portal at a height of about 40 m. Closer to Champs Elysees there is a sculptural group "Immortality conquering Time", and from the side of the Seine, the first is the composition "Harmony Triumphant over Discordia". The facade of the palace is also decorated with numerous bronze statues by sculptors Alexandre Falgier and Victor Peter.
Many halls of the Grand Palace are decorated with mosaic drawings. The floor of the Elliptical Hall is paved with brown, beige and greenish sandstone tiles. Its pattern repeats the cardboards proposed for interior decoration by the artist Louis Gist. 
Ten mosaic panels are located on high altitude under the peristyle of A. Deglan. Their total area is 273 m2, and the total length artwork equal to 74 m. The story of great civilizations became the plot of the mosaic paintings by Auguste and Rene Martin, created according to the sketches of Louis Fournier. Each episode is dedicated to the art of a particular region: antique greece, Mesopotamia, Ancient egypt, French Middle Ages, Italian Renaissance, India, Southeast Asia, Africa, China, Japan and both Americas.
Unity in diversity
Upon completion of the construction, the Grand Palais, as expected, became one of the leading cultural and exhibition centers in Paris. But if its western wing is the Antin Palace, since 1937 it has been constantly occupied by the exposition of the Museum of Discoveries and Inventions, then Eastern the palace was used in a wide variety of ways.
Along with the organization of the indispensable temporary art exhibitions in a number of rooms, there were different years architectural workshops, customs, police station, Center for Germanic and Slavic Studies, Regional Center for Cultural Affairs, Mission for Photographic Heritage, National Gallery. 
The creation in 2007 of a single center for culture and art made it possible to introduce greater rationality in the use of the palace. Now it houses the National Gallery du Grand Palais, the Palace of Discovery, rehearsal rooms of the Comédie Française theater. The large-scale reconstruction of the Grand Palace, which is coming in 2020-2023, will transform the building with more than a century of history and prepare it for the fencing and taekwondo competitions during the Paris Olympics 2024.
The Grand Palais (translated as "Grand Palace") is a Parisian architectural monument located on the banks of the Seine on the edge. Prestigious exhibitions and salons are regularly held here.
The Grand Palais des Beaux-Arts was built in Paris for the 1900 Universal Exhibition on the site and instead of the spacious but inconvenient Palais des Industries in 1855. Now its main purpose is art exhibitions.
The palace building is classified as a historical monument.
On architectural project a competition was organized for the palace, as a result of which it was not possible to come to a consensus and give preference to any one author. It was decided to entrust the project to four architects, each of whom was responsible for their own area of work: Henri Deglan, Albert Louvet, Albert-Felix-Théophile Thomas and Charles Giraud.
The main nave is almost 240 meters long and forms a stately building with a high glass roof. The construction of the palace took 9057 tons of metal (for comparison, the Orsay station - 12000, for - 7300).
The building is made in eclecticism typical of the Beaux-Arts style. The Grand Palais summarizes the tastes, as it were “ A beautiful era”, But at the same time expresses the end of some concepts in architecture, when the architect is both a creative person and an engineer and plays the most significant role. This palace is one of the last examples of the era before the era of electricity. Structures that transmit light are of great importance here.
There are sculptural compositions in front of the two entrances to the palace.
The inside of the palace is decorated with mosaics.
In winter (mid-December to early January), the Grand Palais has the largest indoor ice rink in the world.
Opening hours of Grand Palais
The expositions are open from 10.00 to 20.00 every day, except Tuesdays.
On Wednesdays - until 22.00.
Ticket price for the exhibition in Grand Palais
Ticket prices vary from exhibition to exhibition.
The standard ticket price for the full fare is 11 euros, with discounts (16-25 years old, with a document) - 7 euros.
Active special offer for groups of 4 people, of which 2 are young people 16-25 years old - 35 euros.
Free admission for persons under 16, disabled persons and their accompanying persons.
How to get to Grand Palais
The Grand Palace is located at 3, avenue du Général Eisenhower.
Lines 1, 9 Franklin D. Roosevelt station; lines 1, 13 station Champs-Elysées - Clémenceau
Line C station Invalides
