The École Militaire in Paris: can you visit it, and what to see from the Champ de Mars

Can you visit the École Militaire?

Only during the European Heritage Days. The rest of the year, its doors remain closed to the public, because the site is a working one: it now houses the École de Guerre, the Institut des Hautes Études de Défense Nationale (IHEDN), and the Institut de Recherche Stratégique de l'École Militaire (IRSEM). If your dates happen to fall on that weekend, it is the visit we recommend you book as a priority in the neighborhood, as it cannot be made up on another day. The program and arrangements are published each year: check them before you set out.

What the building is

It is an officers' school commissioned by Louis XV. The edict of January 1751 created it to educate five hundred young gentlemen born without fortune, based on an idea from the Maréchal de Saxe, with the support of Madame de Pompadour and the financier Joseph Pâris Duverney. A detail we enjoy sharing: the edict planned to fund it through a tax on playing cards.

The architect is Ange-Jacques Gabriel. The building is protected as a historical monument and is part of the "Paris, Banks of the Seine" perimeter inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1991. It also houses the Société Hippique Nationale, a nod that speaks to a house whose emblem is a horse's head.

Where to view it without entering

From the Champ de Mars, on the southeastern side. The École Militaire closes the perspective opposite the Eiffel Tower: stand in the middle of the lawns, turn your back to the tower, and you have Gabriel's façade in front of you, place Joffre. It is our neighbor in the 7th, and it is where we often suggest starting a walk towards the Seine. The nearest metro station bears its name: École Militaire.