Castle of Saint-Cloud

The **Château of Saint-Cloud** was a palace in France, built on a site overlooking the Seine at Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) west of Paris.

The château was expanded by Philippe of France, Duke of Orléans in the 17th century, and finally enlarged by Marie Antoinette in the 1780s. After occupation by Napoleon I and Napoleon III, the château was destroyed in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War.

In the series, the *Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte* is the location.

## *Related Pages*

* **Castle of Saint-Cloud/Gallery**
* **Kingdom of France**
* **House of Bourbon**

## Inhabitants

* Philippe of France *(sometimes)*
* Chevalier de Lorraine *(sometimes)*
* Princess Palatine *(sometimes)*
* Henriette of England † *(then)*

## History

### **Hôtel d'Aulnay**

The *Hôtel d'Aulnay*on the site was expanded into a château in the 16th century by the Gondi banking family. The Gondi stemmed from a family of Florentine bankers established at Lyon in the first years of the sixteenth century, who had arrived at the court of France in 1543 in the train of Catherine de‘ Medici. During the 1570s, the Queen offered Jérôme de Gondi a dwelling at Saint-Cloud, the Hôtel d'Aulnay, which became the nucleus of the château with a right-angled wing that looked out on a terrace.

The main front faced south, with a wing that terminated in a pavilion affording a handsome view over the Seine river. Henry III of France installed himself in this house in order to conduct the siege of Paris during the Wars of Religion, and he was assassinated by the monk Jacques Clément.

### **Residence of the Duke d‘Orléans**

On 8 October 1658, Hervart (owner at that time) organized a sumptuous feast at Saint-Cloud in honour of the young King Louis XIV, his brother, "Monsieur", Philippe of France, Duke of Orléans, their mother Anne of Austria and Cardinal Mazarin. Two weeks later, 25 October, Monsieur bought the château and its grounds, for 240,000 livres.

Monsieur was engaged in building operations at Saint-Cloud until his death in 1701. The works were designed and constructed by his architect Antoine Le Pautre, who built the wings in 1677. The château as it was reconstructed for Monsieur took the form of a "U" open to the east, towards the Seine, with the Gondi château, which had faced south, integrated into its left wing. To the rear, a long orangery formed a wing that prolonged the right wing of the court. The entrance avenue, bordered by dependencies, some of which survive, arrived on an angle from the bridge.

Inside, the apartment of "Madame", Henrietta of England in the left wing was decorated by Jean Nocret in 1660, and the 45-metre Galerie d'Apollon, which occupied the whole of the right wing, was decorated with myths of Apollo by Pierre Mignard (finished in 1680).

The last child of Philippe and Henriette was born here in 1669 and named Anne Marie d‘Orléans; who was the maternal grandmother of Louis XV of France.

The château was the site of the death of Princess Henriette in 1670. It was upon this occasion that Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet composed the famous oration for her funeral.

The gardens were replanned by André Le Nôtre, and the park took on the dimensions it retains today. The Grande Cascade, constructed in 1664-1665 by Antoine Le Pautre, has survived. The basin and the lowermost canal were added by Hardouin-Mansart in 1698.

A total of 156,000 livres is estimated to have been spent over the years.

### **Season Two**

In the first episode of the season, the castle is shown for the first time. Chevalier and Philippe have spent their time there, but Monsieur has to marry again, so they quiet and return to Versailles.