Photo : Jebulon / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Château de Pierrefonds
The Château de Pierrefonds, in the Oise, originated in a twelfth-century fortress, which passed to King Philip Augustus. Louis d'Orléans, who received Pierrefonds as an appanage in 1392, launched in 1396 the construction of the present castle, probably designed by Raymond du Temple. Work stopped on the duke's assassination in 1407. Damaged during the Wars of Religion, the castle was dismantled with explosives after the decision taken in May 1617 by Louis XIII's council.
Napoleon I bought the ruins in 1813. Napoleon III had restoration started in 1857, entrusted to Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, who directed the work until 1885. The operation cost five million francs, four million of which came from the imperial budget. Viollet-le-Duc mixed medieval aesthetics and nineteenth-century techniques, such as metal reinforcements and a heating system.
The castle is flanked by eight towers bearing the names of the Nine Worthies. Managed today by the Centre des monuments nationaux, it is visited like a museum and often serves as a setting for films and television series.
