page_title: Château de Meudon
section_title: The 20th century: a gradual renovation
hierarchical_section_title: Château de Meudon / History / The 20th century: a gradual renovation
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Photographie de l'Orangerie de Meudon, première moitié du XXe siècle. Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Meudon.
context_page_description: Meudon Castle, also known as the Royal Castle of Meudon or Imperial Palace of Meudon, is a French castle located in Meudon in the Hauts-de-Seine department. At the edge of a wooded plateau, the castle offers views of Paris and the Seine river, as well as of the valley of Chalais. Located between Paris and Versailles, in the heart of a hunting reserve, the castle has an ideal topography for large gardens. It had many successive owners from the Renaissance until the fall of the Second French Empire. It should not be confused with the Bellevue Castle, also located in Meudon.
  Famous past residents include: Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly, Duchess of Étampes; the Cardinal of Lorraine, Abel Servien; François Michel Le Tellier Marquis de Louvois, and Louis, Grand Dauphin, also known as Monseigneur, who linked the Chaville Castle to Meudon Castle. The Château-Vieux burned down in 1795 and was rebuilt as the Château-Neuf, which in turn burned down in 1871. Demolition was considered, but most of the castle was preserved and became an observatory with an astronomical telescope in 1878, it was then attached to the Observatory of Paris in 1927.
context_section_description: Over the years, vegetation has encircled the Orangery, making it inaccessible. The destruction of the old village of Meudon after the war, and the reconstruction of the city center, has removed the once picturesque setting of multiple roofs at the foot of the old castle. The notion of heritage did not gain traction in French society until the 1970s and 1980. The entire estate is now registered as a historic monument, though this was done very late for such a historic site, while similar large estates in Ile-de-France had been declared historic well before.
caption: Photograph of the Orangery in Meudon, first half 20th century. Musée d'Art et d'Histoire de Meudon
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