Château de Maisons-Laffitte

On the banks of the Seine, the château de Maisons-Laffitte is one of the best examples of French classical art. Around 1630, René de Longueil, président à mortier (chief magistrate) at the Parlement of Paris, decided to entrust the architect François Mansart with building a château where he wished to welcome King Louis XIV when he went hunting in the Saint-Germain forest. Built in the 1640s, the château became the first great "open" château with its central vestibule and open-well staircase. The modern château was born. From its completion in 1651, the building knew prestigious owners and guests, kings or princes, emperors or marshals, writers or thinkers: the Count of Artois, Voltaire, Jacques Laffitte, Madame de Staël, Benjamin Constant, Timan Grommé... In 1905, the State acquired the château. Six years later, it was attached to the National Museums, to become an annex of the sculpture department of the Louvre museum. Since 1980, the château has been open daily to the curious and asserts its place as a cultural tourist attraction in the heart of the Île-de-France. The vestibule of honour, the king's apartment and the ballroom are the highlights of its visit.

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