What an incredible civilian building which survived the Middle-Ages and which

you can find in the heart of the Latin Quarter, just a few blocks away from Notre-Dame!

This building was built at the very end of the 15th Century as the private residence of the abbot of Cluny for whenever he came into town. The building itself is gorgeous but what's really unique are the incredible medieval art collections it holds inside. Here below are only a few examples.

Among the most famous items inside, you find the original kings' heads of the kings' gallery of the façade of Notre-Dame. The statues had been torn down from the façade during the French Revolution (as people mistook the Kings of Judah for the Kings of France) and they were thought

to have been lost forever until the heads of those statues were accidentally found in 1977 behind

the Opera house as they were digging foundations for a new building! Had they been burried there to preserve them for posterity (which in that case worked out pretty well)? Or were they just used

to solidify the foundations? Whatever the reason, 21 of the 28 original heads have been recovered.

I took a selfie with them so that you realize how big (and damaged) they are.

Oh, and if you want to see how the statues of the KIngs' gallery were replaced in the 19th century and how they still appear today, I highly recommend that you click on this link!

In the same line of thought, you will also see the original capitals of the 11th century

of the church Saint-Germain-des-Prés which were also redone in the 19th century:

Yes, I know, they don't look like much, but it's no wonder when you'll know what happened to them! (I keep that story for when I see you ;-).

What I also like at Cluny is that you can admire many amazing stained glass panels which were saved from the original churches and elegantly put in display inside the museum. And you can admire them from as close as you'll ever be to any stained glass (the limit is your nose touching it!).

The left panel is from the 12th century and it comes from the Saint-Denis basilica. It's evidence that the famous "blue of Chartres" came from previous churches (I'll tell you why Chartres got the credit for it). The right panel is from the 13th century and it comes from the Sainte Chapelle!

But the biggest treasure of this museum, the one that could on its own justify your visit,

is the incredible series of tapistries of "The Lady with the Unicorn"!

And do I have other incredible stories to tell you about them!