Mineralogy Museum (Mines Paris)

Updated on September 30, 2026

On the edge of the Luxembourg Garden, the Mineralogy Museum occupies the upper floor of the Hôtel de Vendôme, home of the École des Mines (Mines Paris – PSL). It began in 1794 as the school’s “Cabinet de minéralogie”, whose first curator was René Just Haüy. Its collections hold nearly 100,000 specimens: minerals, gems, rocks and meteorites. About 5,000 are on display in a gallery of 12 rooms in the sixth arrondissement.

Highlights

The gallery and its 1842 cases

Minerals are arranged by family to show the diversity of the mineral world. The Hungarian oak cases, made to measure in 1842, are listed historic monuments. Do not pull out the drawers or lean on the cases.

The entrance to the collections

The museum is on the upper floor of the school: reception staff will direct you to the right staircase. The museum’s paintings, frescoes and busts date from the 1840s, like the layout of the rooms.

Minerals, gems and meteorites

Large cases show pieces from old French mines, such as this pyromorphite from Aveyron, and from deposits around the world. Three cases are devoted to meteorites, including a 226.8 kg fragment of the Canyon Diablo meteorite. Some meteorites can be touched, including fragments of the Moon and Mars.

Infos pratiques

Tips

Admission costs 7 €, or 4 € at the reduced rate, and is free for visitors under 26 and for disabled visitors with one companion, with proof (prices checked in September 2026). Places per time slot are limited: the museum strongly recommends booking, otherwise there is a ticket machine at the school entrance. A full-price ticket gives the reduced rate, within three months, at the Sorbonne University mineral collection and at the Muséum’s Gallery of Geology and Mineralogy. The museum has no left-luggage and no air conditioning; for the lift, ring the intercom at reception.

How to get there

RER B Luxembourg. Metro Cluny-La Sorbonne, line 10, about ten minutes’ walk. Buses 21, 24, 27, 38, 82, 84 and 89, Luxembourg stop. Address: 60 boulevard Saint-Michel, 75006 Paris.