The Imperial Hotel: a Meeting Place for Revolutionaries

On the site of this building, was the Imperial Hotel. Before the Revolution, it housed the “Paris Museum,” a prestigious society for men of letters. From 1787 to 1790, freemasons held their meetings here with the famous Nine Sisters Lodge, which contributed in circulating ideas on liberty and equality. Benjamin Franklin, the American revolutionary, presided over this for some time. Up until June 25, 1789, this is also where Paris electors (in charge of electing representatives to the Estates General) gathered together before moving to the Hôtel de Ville and forming the first municipality of the Revolution. From 1791 to 1794, after having left its original monastery, the Club des Cordeliers also organized meetings here.