European Heritage Days 2025: “Windows to the Past, Doors to the Future”

European Heritage Days were first launched in 1984 to showcase to the broader public the extraordinary wealth of heritage through a wide range of exclusive events, unusual tours and rare openings. For this 42nd edition, the event will put the spotlight on “architectural heritage in all its richness and diversity”. Last year, more than 6.5 million visits took place in thousands of heritage sites across France.

Architecture Everywhere

In France, the European Heritage Days are coordinated by the Ministry of Culture and delivered locally by the regional directorates of cultural affairs. Under the patronage of both the Council of Europe and the European Commission, the initiative relies on the collaboration of public and private owners of historic monuments.

For, indeed, “architecture is everywhere”. The French Academy defines it as “the art of constructing, arranging and adorning buildings”. Architecture is as much about “centuries-old cathedrals” than “contemporary museums, traditional farms” or “modernist railway stations”. As the Ministry explains, architecture “tells how our societies changed, and shapes our landscapes, cities and villages”. To celebrate and explore this theme is also to “try to understand how we inhabit the world, past and present alike”.

Discovering France’s iconic architectures

To “understand and inhabit”, why not take French roads and discover some iconic and typical regional architectures, as highlighted by the event organisers? They include:

• Provençal bastides, which appeared in the late 17th century around towns in the south-east of France. These great mansions were once the “country homes of the wealthiest classes”. Bastides are most often rectangular in plan with round tiles roofs, built from local stone and coated with ochre colours. Many bastides are now privately owned, though some can be visited, such as the Bastide Neuve in Allauch, the holiday home of writer Marcel Pagnol;
• Mining towns of the Nord–Pas-de-Calais region, which emerged in the 19th century. The earliest were the coron, made of rows of adjoining small brick houses stretching for hundreds of metres. Though all houses seem identical, in reality they display striking architectural variety. This diversity has since become a heritage asset: in 2012, many mining towns were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List;
• Alsace half-timbered houses, instantly recognisable with their wooden frames, infill of half-timbering beams with bricks, rubble stones, wattle-and-daub or plaster, and steep clay-tiled roofs. To admire them, the Ministry of Culture suggests visiting the towns of Eguisheim and Riquewihr, or the Petite Venise district of Colmar;
• Bressan farms in the Bourgogne–Franche-Comté region, a legacy of the region’s rich agricultural past. Their three-part layout (house, barn, cowshed) remains unchanged since the Middle Ages. These low, elongated buildings are carefully oriented to withstand the elements. Some are listed as historic monuments, including the Ferme de la Forêt in Courtes and the Ferme du Colombier in Vernoux (Ain department).

Unveiling the secrets of places of power

In Paris, architecture is much more classical and more official! Buildings defined “places of power” will open their doors to the public (often by prior booking):

• The Assemblée nationale, where visitors can visit the lower chamber, the recently restored library with its magnificent ceilings painted by Delacroix, and the reception rooms of the Hôtel de Lassay, the Speaker’s residence.
• The Senate offers tours of the Luxembourg Palace, the Hôtel de la Présidence, the Boffrand salons and the greenhouses of the Luxembourg Gardens. In the Luxembourg Palace, the tour goes through the chamber, beating heart of the Senate, the library, again with Delacroix ceilings, and the ornate Conference room, once the Throne Gallery;
• The Élysée Palace, which as every year opens its doors to reveal the President’s office, the State Reception Room, the courtyard of honour where foreign dignitaries are received, and the landscaped park;
• The Hôtel de Matignon, official residence of the French Prime Minister. Built in the early 18th century in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, the Hôtel de Matignon is the official workplace of the French Prime Minister since 1935. In addition to boasting elegant reception rooms and the largest private garden in Paris, the place has a remarkable green heritage.
• The Paris City Hall, where visitors can explore the Mayor’s office, the library, the Council Chamber and the grand reception rooms.

Thousands of events to celebrate Europe’s diversity

After this little tour of France regions and the capital city, how about visiting further in Europe?

As early as 1984, several European countries expressed interest in organising events similar to France’s Heritage Days. Later, in 1991, the Council of Europe officialised the European Heritage Days by highlighting “the promotion of diversity and dialogue in relation with the heritage in all its forms, using three major pathways: preserve/restore, protect and bring value to all of the common European heritage”.

Today, the initiative has spread to nearly 50 countries, and attracts 20 to 30 million visitors annually across the European continent. For the rest of Europe, the official European Heritage Days website lists events in all participating nations. On the dedicated website, there are more than 2,300 events are currently featured across 50 countries and regions, each celebrating the diversity of European architecture. All are, as the official site beautifully puts it, “windows to the past, doors to the future”.