Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal

The Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal occupies the site of a sixteenth-century royal munitions plant, recognizable today by the grand residence of the former Grand Masters of Artillery where it is housed. King François the First founded the original military compound here to cast cannons and store gunpowder near the Seine. By the eighteenth century, the site was expanded by the architect Germain Boffrand, shifting from a place of heavy industry to one of refinement and scholarly study.