Islam in Paris: visit of the Great Mosque of Paris

The walk starts at the Great Mosque of Paris, then passes by the Jardin des Plantes and ends at the Arab World Institute.

A short walk in Paris to discover the Grande Mosquée de Paris, the Jardins des Plantes and Institut du monde arabe. If you wish to visit the interior of the monuments and museums, you must pay 35 euros per person. Nothing is free on the first Sunday of the month, the mosque is closed on Friday. The walk is very pleasant even without seeing the inside of the buildings. The walk in the Jardins des Plantes can be enough by itself, the walk along the quays of the Seine is also worth the detour. Unless you are passionate about the Arab world, you should not visit the Arab World Institute. Even the text of the presentation leaflet does not make you want to go there : " Past enlightening present ; present questioning origins. The objective is to draw up an introductory, synthetic and shimmering picture of the Arab world, by giving an account of its multiple facets and without pretending to an impossible exhaustiveness.

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Difficulty: difficulty
Duration: 4 h.

Entrance to the Mosque of Paris

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Entrance to the Mosque of Paris
The entrance to the mosque is located at the minaret. It has a height of 26 meters. The mosque was inaugurated in 1926. This place embodies the link and friendship between France and Islam.

The courtyard of the Mosque

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The courtyard of the Mosque
You can enter the mosque to admire the inner court. After that you have to pay to see more. The courtyard is like the rest of the building in bad condition. There is no working fountain.

Le Grand Patio

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Le Grand Patio
The Grand Patio is located just before the Prayer Room.

The Great Patio and the Minaret

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The Great Patio and the Minaret
The access to the Grand Patio is paying for visitors: 3 euros. The mosque being a place of worship it is of course free for believers. The 3 euros are for Muslim charities.

The gardens of the Mosque

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The gardens of the Mosque
It is difficult to know which parts are accessible to visitors. There is no real indication. Renovation work will apparently be undertaken. It was time, the whole mosque is very degraded and poorly maintained.

The Prayer Room

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The Prayer Room
The Prayer Room is not open to the public and is forbidden to non-Muslims.

The entrance to the cafe restaurant of the Mosque

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The entrance to the cafe restaurant of the Mosque
The Mosque also includes a hammam and a café-restaurant. The small terrace at the entrance is very pleasant and encourages to take a mint tea.

The Great Greenhouses of the Jardin des Plantes

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The Great Greenhouses of the Jardin des Plantes
To get to the Institut du monde Arabe, you have to go through the Jardin des Plantes. The entrance to the Jardin des Plantes is free, but you have to pay to enter the exhibitions. Visit of the Great Greenhouses: 6 euros. The Great Gallery of Evolution: 7 euros, The menagerie, the zoo: 11 euros. The Galleries of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy: 7 euros. Culture is expensive! There is a global ticket of 2 days for 25 euros.

The garden of the Jardin des plantes

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The garden of the Jardin des plantes
We walk among the plants. Each plant has a label allowing to know its name. In the same style of garden the floral park in Vincennes is much more beautiful.

The quays of the Seine

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The quays of the Seine
You can reach the center of Paris by walking along the Seine by a pleasant pedestrian path.

Jardin Tino-Rossi

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Jardin Tino-Rossi
The Tino-Rossi garden is also the open-air sculpture museum of the City of Paris. One cannot say that the sculptures are well presented.

The Arab World Institute

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The Arab World Institute
We finish the walk by the Institute of the Arab world. It is mainly a museum with temporary exhibitions and as usual the bookshop and the café-restaurant. Entry fee: 8 euros. The positive point: you are not oppressed by the other visitors, there are not many people. The most beautiful thing is the exterior architecture.
Departure point (Google Maps)

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