In 1713, when the peace treaties of Utrecht were signed in the Netherlands, Louis XIV had been king of France for seventy years. The treaties were made far from Paris, but the Paris of that year is easy for us to find. Three buildings we can still walk up to today were already standing, and each one tells us something about the city the king built.
The Institut de France: Mazarin’s College on the Seine
Across the Pont des Arts from the Louvre stands the dome of the Institut de France. It began life as the Collège des Quatre-Nations, the college Cardinal Mazarin asked for in his will. Work started in 1663 to plans by the architect Louis Le Vau, who died before it was finished, and the college opened in 1688. The chapel under its double dome was built to hold Mazarin’s tomb.
The academies arrived much later: the Institut de France was founded in 1795, and Napoleon had it moved into the old college buildings in 1805. We like to stop in the middle of the Pont des Arts and look at the dome with the river below. The Institut de France website has the details of its guided visits to the session rooms and the Mazarine library.
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Our free 8-page PDF guide: 25 places, from Galerie Vivienne's 1880 mosaic floor to Canal Saint-Martin's locks, each linked to its official site.
The Observatoire de Paris: Science for the Sun King
At the far end of the avenue de l’Observatoire, south of the Luxembourg Garden, is the Observatoire de Paris. It was founded in 1667, during the reign of Louis XIV, and it is one of the oldest astronomical observatories in the world still at work. Its stone building was designed by Claude Perrault, brother of Charles Perrault, who wrote the fairy tales.
So by 1713 the observatory had been at work for more than forty years. A visit inside is a rare event, so check the Observatoire de Paris website before you plan on one. The walk down the avenue from the Luxembourg Garden is lovely either way.
The Dôme des Invalides: Gold over the Left Bank
Louis XIV founded the Hôtel des Invalides in 1670 to give hospital care and a home to wounded, sick, disabled and elderly soldiers. Jules Hardouin-Mansart completed its churches, and in 1706 the king inaugurated the royal church of the Dôme. In 1713 it was the newest great dome on the Paris skyline.
Today the Dôme is part of the Musée de l’Armée, and the Musée de l’Armée website has the visiting details. Even without going in, the slow walk across the esplanade toward that gilded dome is one of our favourite Paris strolls.
Louis XIV’s Paris in One Day
The Institut de France and the Dôme des Invalides both stand on the Left Bank of the Seine, and the Observatoire is further south, beyond the Luxembourg Garden. Put the three together and you have a day in the Paris of 1713: a college on the river, a building made for watching the sky, and a golden dome built for the king.
Updated October 2026: rewritten to focus on Paris; facts checked against institutdefrance.fr (palace history), observatoiredeparis.psl.eu (Perrault building) and musee-armee.fr (history of the Invalides).
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