Palais De La Porte Dorée

Built for the 1931 International Colonial Exhibition in Paris, the Palais de la Porte Dorée is an Art Deco landmark whose architecture reflects France’s colonial history. Its monumental façade features a vast stone bas-relief by sculptor Alfred Janniot, depicting people, landscapes, wildlife and resources from territories under French colonial rule. Today, the building houses the Musée national de l’histoire de l’immigration and the Aquarium tropical, which has been located here since the palace opened. The site explores France’s immigration history while preserving and interpreting the building’s original architecture and decoration. Its changing role, from colonial exhibition palace to cultural institution, makes the building itself an important part of the story.