The
Palais de Chaillot dates from the International Exposition of 1937 and is a period
piece of between wars, timid-modern style. It replaces a structure of tepid Moorish
sympathies left over from the 1878 International Exposition. Earlier in the 19th
century, after demolition of the Convent of the Visitation, the top of this 230-foot
(65 metre) hill had been leveled for the construction of a palace (never built)
for the King of Rome, son of the emperor Napoleon. The Palais is made of two separate
pavilions, each of which sprouts a curved wing. The Musée de l'Homme (Museum
of Man), the Musée de la Marine, and the Musée des Monuments Français
(Museum of French Monuments) are located there. Under the terrace which separates
the two sections are two theatres, the variable-formation (1,500 to 3,000 seats)
National Popular Theatre (TNP) and a small hall that serves as one of the two
cinemas of the National Film Library (Cinémathèque Française).
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