Due to the massive volume of documents and records kept by the National Archives, these have been divided among two sites, one in the historic center of Paris, the other one in the northern Parisian suburb of
Pierrefitte-sur-Seine (opened in 2013), complemented by a
microform centre at the Château d'Espeyran, in
Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, serving as a back-up in case original documents are destroyed. A third site in the Paris Region, at
Fontainebleau, was closed in 2016 and its content moved to Pierrefitte-sur-Seine.
Paris district, Paris kept at the historic Paris site of the National Archives. First page of a letter sent to Louis XIV on July 20, 1706, by
Jérôme Phélypeaux, comte de Pontchartrain,
Secretary of State of the Navy, in which he explains that an English fleet is approaching
Ushant and may bomb
Brest. In the left margin the 67-year-old king wrote a reply with his own hand: "''Le party que l'on a pris est très bon et l'on ne doit rien faire qu'on ne voie à quoy les ennemis seront déterminés. Vous voiés que je suis de vostre advis. L''" which means "The decision that was taken is very good and nothing must be done before making sure of the enemy's intentions. As you can see I agree with you. L". The National Archives has been located since 1808 in a group of buildings comprising the
Hôtel de Soubise and the
Hôtel de Rohan in the district of
Le Marais in the centre of
Paris. Since the opening of the Pierrefitte-sur-Seine site in 2013, the historic Paris site stores only the documents and records from before the French Revolution, as well as the so-called
Minutier central of Paris, i.e. the archives of all the Parisian
notaries extending from the 15th century to the beginning of the 20th century. Since 1867 it has also housed the
Musée des Archives Nationales. In 2004, the Paris site of the National Archives kept of physical records: of pre-French Revolution archives; of records of the French central state from 1790 to 1958; of Paris notary records (
Minutier central); of private archives, notably the archives of the aristocratic families seized at the time of the French Revolution; of books; and finally of ancient maps and plans. In 2012-2013, all archives, maps and plans from 1790 to the 20th century, as well as all private archives from all periods, were moved to the new site of Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, and as a result the amount of archives stored at the historic Paris site was reduced to of physical records (situation as of the end of 2015). The space liberated by the departure of more than 50 km of records allowed the National Archives to resume the collection of archives from the Paris notaries, in particular late 19th and early 20th centuries records which hadn't been collected yet. As of 2022, the
Minutier central of the Paris notaries stored at the National Archives was filling of shelves, representing 20 million notary records from the 1460s to the first half of the 20th century.
Pierrefitte-sur-Seine , April 27, 1848, kept at the new Pierrefitte site of the National Archives In 2004, the decision was made to construct a new National Archive centre in
Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, located in the northern suburbs of Paris. This initiative aimed to alleviate the burden on the historic sites in Paris and the newer Fontainebleau site. Designed by the
Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas, it opened to the public in January 2013. It was meant to become the main site of the National Archives, with a capacity of of shelves, one of the largest storage capacities in the world. at which point the Pierrefitte site of the National Archives would store more than of physical records, close to maximum capacity, at a much earlier date than was originally anticipated. As a result, the National Archives have launched the construction of new storage capacity (100 km of shelves) at the Pierrefitte site, which should bring the total capacity of the Pierrefitte site to of shelf space by 2026. The Pierrefitte-sur-Seine site of the National Archives stores all the archives of the French central state since 1790 (except those of the
Ministry of Armed Forces and of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which have their own archive agencies, the
Defence Historical Service and the respectively), as well as all the private archives from all periods seized during the French Revolution or deposited at the National Archives since then (archives of aristocratic families, industrialists, major historical figures, etc). The removal of more than 70 km of records to Pierrefitte was due to be completed by 2022.
Espeyran The National Microfilm Centre (''''), opened in the Château d'Espeyran, in
Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, in 1973. This centre stores original
microforms of documents held in other archive centres, both national and departmental, in case the original documents were destroyed. This centre keeps approximately 61 million views of original documents. ==Sister agencies==