Author Topic: French Royal Palaces (except Versailles)  (Read 66405 times)

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ipflo

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Re: French Royal Palaces (except Versailles)
« Reply #60 on: May 11, 2008, 03:27:51 AM »
hi,

Does some one know where I can find information about the disappeared château of Neuilly sur Seine, once one of the favourite residences of Louis Philippe, and Joachim Murat.

Thanks in advance,

ipflo

Mari

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Re: French Royal Palaces (except Versailles)
« Reply #61 on: May 11, 2008, 04:45:10 AM »
 Chateau de Neuilly


 The castle of Neuilly was at Neuilly-sur-Seine.


The area covered a vast Park of 170 acres called "park of Neuilly" which included any  part of  Neuilly ranging between the avenue of Rolls and the town of Levallois-Perret. This unit had been divided into two very unequal parts on which two castles had been built:  The castle of Villiers in the east, seems to have been only one large middle-class house,  with 24 parts and a beautiful garden separated by a palisade from the park of Neuilly itself. This property was finally attached to the preceding one in the early nineteenth century; * The castle of Neuilly, in the west, had been built in 1751, with the site of  construction dating from the middle of the seventeenth century, for the count d' Argenson, Secretary of State for War of Louis XV, who had acquired the property in 1741. Decorated of an Ionic order and raised on several terraces dominating the Seine, the building was designed by the architect Jean-Sylvain Cartaud. After the French Revolution, the castle belonged to Radix de Sainte-Foy, who sold it in beginning of 1792 to  Ms. de Montesson. Under the Consulate, the latter sold it to businessmen Delannoy and Vandenberghe who rented it like a second home to Talleyrand, who gave splendid festivals  before selling it to Murat at the beginning of 1804. The latter also acquired the castle of Villiers and joins together the two fields. There was important work and expansions, in particular adding two wings to the main Palace and gave sumptuous feasts  as at the time of the crowning of Napoleon king of' Italy in 1805. Murat become king of Naples (1808), all his possessions were gathered together in the area of the crown. The princess, Pauline Borghèse, Sister of the emperor, then accepted the property for staffing and she also gave superb festivals. In 1814, the area was returned to the Crown. July 16, 1819, it was acquired by the Duke of Orleans, future Louis-Philippe in exchange for Chartres, located at the street of  Saint-Thomas of the Louvre, which belonged to him. He transformed the castle by Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine and expanded the area by the acquisition of 7 small islands in the middle of the Seine which he connected to the castle by a  bridge wire to be able to reach the island known today under the name of  Island of Love ? where he transfered the "Temple of Love", that his father Philippe-Equality, then duke of Chartres, had set up in 1774 at the Park Monceau (known as  the "folly of Chartres") in Paris (V Île of the Bowl). The family of Orleans liked the castle of Neuilly particularly, where it took its neighborhood's summer's well.  With its long and low buildings, it retained a discretion which suited the middle-class monarchy. The park,  for the greatest part in grove, was surrounded by a high enclosing wall which concealed it from sight. At the time of the revolution of 1848, the castle was burned and looted on February 25, 1848. Only one of the wings built by Murat remained, occupied today by the Congregation of Sisters of  Saint-Thomas Villeneuve  (52, boulevard of Argenson). Confiscated by Napoleon III in 1852 with the assets of the house of Orleans, the park was divided into 700 lots which, after the creation of seven boulevards of 30 meters wide and nine streets limited to 15 meters of width,  which were the object of successive auctions from 1854.

Offline Lucien

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« Last Edit: October 25, 2010, 12:44:38 AM by Svetabel »
Je Maintiendrai

Mari

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Re: French Royal Palaces (except Versailles)
« Reply #63 on: July 18, 2008, 05:09:05 AM »
Very nice links!
 Chenonceau is still  my favorite building and Fontainebleau second. I have a huge Poster I bought as a Child. Given as a present  to his Mistress Diane de Poitier by Henri II of France it is a Chateau more than a Palace but it is so beautiful.
 
http://www.chenonceau.com/media/gb/index_gb.php

Marie-Antoinette

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Re: French Royal Palaces (except Versailles)
« Reply #64 on: November 11, 2008, 04:43:07 PM »
I love the sweeping staircases at Fontainebleu.

Versailles is very big. We had limited time when we went there but it was wonderful. The rooms were huge even when there were like a billion other tourists buzzing around. It's a wonderful place. Possibly quite eighteenth century tacky, but very beautiful.

Offline pers

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Re: French Royal Palaces (except Versailles)
« Reply #65 on: February 12, 2009, 12:29:09 PM »
The state of the Tuileries Palace was not real good in October 1789 when Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette moved into it. 

The only part of the palace that was used from time to time by the Royal Family, was the Queen's apartment on the upper floor.  From 1783 onwards, Marie Antoinette used this apartment as a pied-a-terre when she visited Paris for opera etc. and it was too late to drive back to Versailles.  The apartment on the upper floor was the officiall Queen's apartment and was last occupied by the wife of Louis XIV, Marie Therese. In 1789, the Queen's apartment was turned over to Madame Royale and the Dauphin.  Louis XVI occupied the King's apartment.

Marie Antoinette chose the apartment directly below the Queen's official apartment as her de facto apartment.  Initially these rooms were prepared for Dowager Queen Anne, Louis XIV's mother, but her death in 1666 changed the plans and it became known as the Dauphin's apartment.  By 1789 it has been occupied by the Comtesse de la Mark for quite a number of years.  She was turned out of the rooms and Marie Antoinette moved into this apartment situated on the ground floor.  The apartment was the same size as the by now former Queen's apartment upstairs, except that the ceilings were slightly lower in height.

The apartment on the lower floor consisted of a guard room, an anteroom, the billiards/dining room, the salon, the Queen's bedroom, her cabinet de toilette as well as a bathroom with bath and an ingenuous bidet/toilet, which apparently today is still conserved at Versailles.  There was an entresol level as well above the cabinet de toilette that was reached by a small staircase that also led to the suite on the upper floor.  Behind the diningroom, salon and bedroom towards the staircase, ran a corridor that had no natural light and was only lit by two lanterns 24/7.  It was down this corridor that one of the King's staff came one night to try and murder the Queen.  Her valet de chambre however took care of the man...

Offline pers

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Re: French Royal Palaces (except Versailles)
« Reply #66 on: April 17, 2009, 11:56:00 AM »
I found the following link to a French discussion forum.  There is a treasure trove of information by one of the contributors, a "M. de Castelnau".  Could one of our French speaking members please be so kind as to look at it and translate it for us for this forum, PLEASE!!!
http://maria-antonia.justgoo.com/les-autres-lieux-f21/le-palais-des-tuileries-t447-60.htm
« Last Edit: April 17, 2009, 11:57:33 AM by pers »

LillyO

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Re: French Royal Palaces (except Versailles)
« Reply #67 on: July 18, 2009, 09:44:04 PM »
I have pictures of Chenonceau, Chambord, Fontainbleu, Cheverny, Versailles, Petite Trianon and the Hamlet, Louvre, and maybe a few other places.
I don't know how to post pictures on this site, so if anyone is interested in seeing any photos I took, can you tell me how to do it?  Thanks in advance!

Offline Alexandre64

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Re: French Royal Palaces (except Versailles)
« Reply #68 on: July 25, 2009, 10:38:36 AM »
The Louvre in a War:






Soane

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Re: French Royal Palaces (except Versailles)
« Reply #69 on: August 10, 2009, 11:35:14 AM »
Chenonceau is still  my favorite building and Fontainebleau second. I have a huge Poster I bought as a Child. Given as a present  to his Mistress Diane de Poitier by Henri II of France it is a Chateau more than a Palace but it is so beautiful.

I toured the Loire last summer and stayed at a friend's chateau near Tours. It was by far the best holiday I have ever had; I could have spent months there, but, alas, I had only 2 weeks. I managed to see Chambord (twice), Chenonceau, Cheverny, Chaumont, Blois, Langeais, Azay-le-Rideau, Amboise (twice), Chinon, Usse, Brissac and Saumur. I couldn't possibly pick a favourite, but Chenonceau was really rather stunning.

Soane

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Re: French Royal Palaces (except Versailles)
« Reply #70 on: August 10, 2009, 06:39:45 PM »
I am a little perturbed by the news that there is a committee lobbying for the rebuilding of the Palais des Tuileries. Although it would be interesting to see the palace, and indeed the entire Louvre complex, as it looked c.1870, I very much doubt that the vast cost of the project could be borne - especially in the absence of any government funding.

It has been said that the rebuilding of the Tuileries would provide not only additional exhibition space for the Louvre, but also government offices and an appropriate home for the furniture, objets d'art and other items that were removed from the palace before its destruction. In addition, the Axe Historique that runs from La Defense under the Arc de Triomphe and through the Tuileries gardens was originally centred on the palace facade not the off-centre Louvre.

However, even if sufficient funds could be raised, what on earth would be the point of rebuilding the Tuileries? It was, undeniably, a beautiful building and its loss was a tragedy. It was also a building that had developed and changed under the reigns of several kings (and, indeed, Emperors), the supervision of several architects and had been constructed by several generations of stone masons, carpenters, sculptors, gilders and painters; there is no possible way of reconstructing and recreating such a rich web of evolution - the result would simply be soulless.
Perhaps the money could be spent more productively; perhaps by setting up a rigorous checking system that ensures that only tourists who actually appreciate the art held in the Louvre can gain access. Those tourists who only go there to gawp at the Mona Lisa and experience the entire museum through a camera lens should be turned away at the door.

Agneschen

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Re: French Royal Palaces (except Versailles)
« Reply #71 on: August 11, 2009, 08:02:41 AM »
Why, I own I cannot agree though I see your point. What would have become of Dresden's wonderful historical heritage or of Peterhof & Tsarkoie Selo in Russia if people had reasoned as you do after the end of WW2 ? Various historically significant buildings have been damaged / destroyed and then rebuild over the centuries. There is as much point in rebuilding the Tuileries palace as there is in rebuilding the Berliner Stadtschloss for instance.
I for one am ready to contribute in my own modest way but would never dream of giving a penny to bar tourists from the Louvre. If some people are stupid enough to go through the museum looking at its collections through a camera lens, so much the worse for them, but they have as much right to it as we have.

REMI

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Re: French Royal Palaces (except Versailles)
« Reply #72 on: August 11, 2009, 10:55:46 AM »
Why, I own I cannot agree though I see your point. What would have become of Dresden's wonderful historical heritage or of Peterhof & Tsarkoie Selo in Russia if people had reasoned as you do after the end of WW2 ? Various historically significant buildings have been damaged / destroyed and then rebuild over the centuries. There is as much point in rebuilding the Tuileries palace as there is in rebuilding the Berliner Stadtschloss for instance.
I for one am ready to contribute in my own modest way but would never dream of giving a penny to bar tourists from the Louvre. If some people are stupid enough to go through the museum looking at its collections through a camera lens, so much the worse for them, but they have as much right to it as we have.

I agree with you, Agneschen. In 1871, during the "Commune", a lot of historical  buildings were burnt down They were all reconstructed except the Tuileries. Why? From a architectural point of view, il would  be fine that the perspective Arc de Triomphe -Ttuileries would be closed.

REMI

Soane

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Re: French Royal Palaces (except Versailles)
« Reply #73 on: August 25, 2009, 11:30:17 AM »
I for one am ready to contribute in my own modest way but would never dream of giving a penny to bar tourists from the Louvre. If some people are stupid enough to go through the museum looking at its collections through a camera lens, so much the worse for them, but they have as much right to it as we have.

I was being ironic when I said that - obviously anyone has a right to enter a public museum; it was merely to highlight the tragically superficial attitude of so many, so-called 'cultural tourists'.

Further to my last post, I would also like to point out that the Tuileries was not that attractive a building (in my opinion) and lacked the unified dignity of - for instance - the east front of the Louvre. It was built sporadically, yes, but it always appeared to me to be a rather ponderous, with its breaks in rhythm and discordant massing. Anyone agree?

Robert_Hall

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Re: French Royal Palaces (except Versailles)
« Reply #74 on: August 25, 2009, 12:08:21 PM »
I agree, Soane. The Tuilleries palace is gone for over 100 years and Paris has adapted beautifully without it. The restorations in St. Petersburg were begun almost immediately after the destruction of war.  The Louvre could probably use more space to show it's vast collections, but I do not feel that would be a solution. There is still space at Versailles, for instance, for new galleries.  I have visited the Louvre 3 times in the past year.  Each time was for a specific purpose: one was to see the Pei Pyramids,  a work of art in themselves, another to see the French Crown Jewels [or what is left of them] and another Napoleon III's apartments. That was interesting, I thought they were lost  in 1871. Thus I avoided the 20 minute camera tourists [have not seen, nor care  to, the Mona Lisa in 30 years!]. However, those people are the life blood of any museum.  They need the money, plain and simple. Most museums do.  They receive less and less  funding every year.  I do not begrudge them at all. I also tend to travel off season anyway, so do not  encounter many of that sort of tourist. or groups.
 Yes, it would be impossible to recreate the Tuilleries with it looking  like something from Disney.
« Last Edit: August 25, 2009, 12:19:31 PM by Robert_Hall »