Database: Hôtel de Cluny

An outstanding example of medieval household architecture in Paris. The Hôtel de Cluny was built at the center of the -Roman capital (vestiges of a Roman thermal bath still abut the hôtel). The Abbot of Cluny purchased the site to transform it into a town house in 1334, but it was Jacques d'Amboise who turned it into what was essentially a luxurious guest house in 1485. One of its occupants was Mary Tudor, the young widow of Louis XII. Francis I, fearing that she might give birth to a son who would take his place on the throne, kept her under surveillance here. Such caution was justified: he found her in the arms of the , her military attaché. She was promptly married in the chapel then sent packing with her husband on the first boat to England. The building is now a charming museum renowned for its collection of tapestries.
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