Grand Palais - Paris, France
Posted by: Metro2
N 48° 51.970 E 002° 18.831
31U E 449679 N 5412805
This building was used by the occupying Nazis as a truck depot...and later as the headquaters for the Parisian resistance.
Waymark Code: WMD51F
Location: Île-de-France, France
Date Posted: 11/19/2011
Views: 50
The Grand Palace was built as an art exhibition hall for the 1900 Universalle Exposition.
Located across the street from the Petit Palais...a smaller building built for the same purpose, this huge hall now serves as an art museum and science museum. The site was used as a hospital during World War I...and during World War II, the occupying Nazis used it as a truck depot...and then as an exhibition hall for Nazi propaganda. During the Liberation of Paris, the resistors used the building as their headquarters.
Wikipedia (
visit link) adds:
" On August 23, 1944, a peace officer fired on an advancing German column from a window on the Avenue de Sèlves, and the Germans responded with a tank attack upon the Palais. The attack ignited hay that was set up for a circus show, and over the next 48 hours, thick black smoke from the fire caused serious damage to the building. On August 26th, American jeeps are parked in the Nave, followed by tanks from the French Second Armored Division, completing the liberation of the building."
The building is made with a glass roof. Huge sculptures are featured on the building's exterior wings.
See the official website at (visit link)