Photo : EXistenZ / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye
The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in the Yvelines, originated in a church founded by King Robert the Pious in the early eleventh century. Around 1124, opposite the priory, Louis VI the Fat had a palatium built. In 1238, Saint Louis had a Gothic chapel raised there that served as a model for the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris and remains a masterpiece of Gothic architecture.
From 1539, Francis I had the castle rebuilt in Renaissance style, by the architect Pierre Chambiges. Louis XIV made it his main residence from 1661 to 1682 and asked André Le Nôtre to design gardens and the Grande Terrasse, which overlooks the Seine valley. The ballroom hosted more than 140 theatrical performances with Lully and Molière.
Restored in the nineteenth century by the architect Eugène Millet, the castle has housed, since 1862, the National Archaeology Museum, created by Napoleon III.
