| Cité de l'économie et de la monnaie | |
| Coordinates: | 48.8822°N 2.3103°W |
| Established: | late 2014 |
| Location: | Paris |
| Type: | museum |
| Publictransit: | Malesherbes |
| Pushpin Map: | Paris |
| Website: | https://www.citeco.fr/en |
The Cité de l'économie et de la monnaie or Citéco[1] is a museum dedicated to the economy, located in Paris, France. It was inaugurated on 15 May 2019, and opened to the public on 14 June 2019. The museum was financed with patronage from the Banque de France, and is located in the Hotel Gaillard.
The Banque de France announced the creation of the Cité de l'économie et de la monnaie during a press conference held by Governor Christian Noyer on May 25, 2011. The museum was proposed as an educational facility, inviting the general public to discover economics, tackle issues often met in everyday life, and encourage a better understanding of world events.[2]
The Cité de l'économie et de la monnaie mainly addresses teachers and students, to help illustrate concepts studied at school (around one-third of the estimated 130,000 annual visitors are expected to be students).[3]
The project is led by the Banque de France, in collaboration with several partners.[4] Among these are:
Citéco is hosted in the Hotel Gaillard.
The neo-gothic mansion was designed by architect Jules Février at the request of Emile Gaillard, a banker from the city of Grenoble and amateur collector of Middle Ages and Renaissance art. The Hotel Gaillard was sold to the Banque de France in 1919.
From 1919 to 1921, architectural works were directed by architect Alphonse Defrasse for the Banque de France, especially the building of a steel structure that housed the cashier's desks and other services to the visitors. He imagined the impressive vault that could be accessed by a lift bridge, over two-meter-deep moats.[5]
Listed as a historic monument in 1999, this branch closed in 2006, as a consequence of the plan to close half of the Banque de France's French branches.
Citéco was the object of an architectural contest. Over 100 teams of architects and museographers participated. The contest aimed at transforming this former bank branch into an educational Cité, while respecting the architecture of the historic building.
The winner was selected by the Banque de France from six finalists chosen by the contest jury. The winning team is made of Ateliers Lion for the architecture, François Confino for the museography, and Eric Pallot as architect in charge of historic monuments.[4]