Looking up: Paris's splendid ceilings

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Window-shopping, trying not to crash into fellow pedestrians and dodging the infamous 'crottes de chien' means that many tourists in Paris keep their gaze fixed firmly at ground level. They're missing out. Some of the city's hidden glories are lurking in plain sight for those willing to crane their necks, from the glorious cupolas in the Grand Palais and the Galeries Lafayette to the ravishing Gothic vaulting in the city's churches. Bring binoculars, bring a mirror, bring a neck brace if you must, but make sure you keep your eyes on the sky.

Published: 2012-04-27 19:00:00 UTC

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Odeon - Théâtre de l'Europe

The Odéon theatre in the 6th arrondissement is one of France's six national theatres. It dates from the late 18th century, though the present space was built in the 19th. The mural on the ceiling was painted by the artist André Masson in 1965.

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Musée des Arts et Métiers

The Musée des Arts et Métiers, housed in a deconsecrated priory in the 3rd arrondissement, hosts a vast collection of scientific objects and inventions. Among them is this bat-shaped flying machine built in the 1890s by Clément Ader.

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Grand Palais

The Grand Palais, off the Champs-Elysées in the 8th arrondissement, was built for the Exposition Universelle world's fair in 1900. Its iron, steel and glass roof was inspired by London's ill-fated Crystal Palace.

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Sainte Chapelle

The Sainte-Chapelle, on the Île de la Cité in the 4th arrondissement, is among Paris's finest pieces of Gothic architecture. It houses some of the city's finest stained glass, though the vibrant colours of the interior today (including this boss from the ceiling of the upper chapel) are the result of a wholesale renovation in the 19th century.

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Musée de Cluny

The fifteenth-century Hôtel de Cluny in the 5th arrondissement was built for the Benedictine monks of the Cluniac order as accommodation for teachers at the now-vanished college nearby. It now houses Paris's Museum of the Middle Ages.

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Bourse de Commerce

The Bourse de Commerce in the 1st arrondissement now houses Paris's chamber of commerce and industry, but was originally built as a grain market in the late 18th century on a site previously owned by Catherine de' Medici. Its frescoes depict the history of trade between the world's five continents.

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Galeries Lafayette

Galeries Lafayette in the 9th arrondissement is perhaps Paris's most famous department store, as remarkable for its lavish interior and its iconic Art Nouveau dome as for its range of products.

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Palais Garnier

The dome at the Palais Garnier, otherwise known as the Paris Opera, is concealed by a false ceiling painted by the artist Marc Chagall.

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Printemps

The department store Printemps is Galeries Lafayette's main competitor, located just a stone's throw away in the 9th arrondissement and boasting, like its rival, a roof terrace and a stained-glass Art Nouveau dome.