Founded on 10 October 1794, during the French Revolution,Michel Nusimovici, Les écoles de l'an III, 2010. it was then proposed by Abbé Henri Grégoire as a "depository for machines, models, tools, drawings, descriptions and books in all the areas of the arts and trades".'LA CONVENTION ET LA CRÉATION DU CONSERVATOIRE' The deserted Saint-Martin-des-Champs Priory (and particularly its Gothic refectory by Pierre de Montereau) was selected as the site of collection, which officially opened in 1802.
