Visit
The setting for
historical events
Information
History
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Visit
The setting for
historical events
Information
History
L
L
Visit
The setting for
historical events
Information
English
Glossary
Composite order: with a capital comprising the
acanthus leaves typical of the Corinthian order
and the scrolls of the Ionic order.
Doric column: this sort of column with no base
and a flat, smooth capital is typical of the oldest
architectural order of ancient Greece.
Fontaine, Pierre François Léonard (1762-1853):
a French architect who is notable for having built
the Chapelle Expiatoire in Paris.
Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, also known as
Philippe Égalité (1747-1793): a cousin of Louis XVI
and father of King Louis Philippe I (Philippe I, Duke
of Orléans 1773-1850). He was guillotined in 1793.
Outer courtyard: courtyard giving onto the street
and preceding the main courtyard.
Pilaster: square pillar projecting out from a wall.
Rostrum: ornamentation in the form of the prow
of an ancient warship, rostra in the plural.
Practical information
Average length of visit: 1 hour.
Guided tours by reservation
on 01 44 54 19 30.
Adapted tours for disabled visitors.
Centre des monuments nationaux
Domaine national du Palais-Royal
8 rue de Montpensier
75001 Paris
tél. 01 47 03 92 16
fax 01 42 96 13 54
www.monuments-nationaux.fr
crédits photos © E. Revault, C. Rose / Centre des monuments nationaux. conception Plein Sens, Anders. réalisation Marie-Hélène Forestier. traduction InPuzzle. impression Stipa, mai 2014.
History
Engraving by
Jean-Gabriel
Berthault based
on a work by
Jean-Louis Prieur,
late 18th century
The forum for the French Revolution
The theatres
Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans* , also known as
Philippe Égalité* , was a supporter of new ideas and
forbade soldiers from entering the garden, which
became a place for freethinkers. Intellectuals and
politicians held debates in the clubs and cafés.
The Café Corazza, which opened in 1787 in the
Montpensier Gallery, acted as the headquarters
for the Jacobins, the revolutionary club which
included Robespierre as one of its leading members.
On 12 July 1789, on
learning that Necker
(a particularly
popular Minister
of Finances) had
been stripped of
his functions,
Camille Desmoulins,
a French journalist and revolutionary, climbed onto
a table at the Café de Foy in the Montpensier
Gallery and addressed the crowd, exhorting
them to take up arms.
The history of the Palais-Royal is caught up with
that of the theatre, a tradition that is still very
much alive today. The first theatre here was built by
Richelieu in 1637 in the south-east wing of the Palace.
The playwright and actor Molière, who was also
head of the King’s troupe, presented all of his plays
there. After his death in 1673 the theatre was used to
perform operas by the composer Jean-Baptiste Lully.
Two fires damaged the building, one in 1673
and the other in 1781. After this second fire,
Philippe Égalité* commissioned Victor Louis,
the architect of Bordeaux’s theatre, to build a new
auditorium, which is now the highly prestigious
Comédie-Française. At the other end stands the
Théâtre du Palais-Royal, built in 1784 for the
Comte de Beaujolais’s puppet troupe. It was
entirely refurbished in the late 19th century.
Writers beneath the arcades
The charm of the square and its peace and quiet
have attracted many 20th-century writers, some of
whom have lived here. In 1906 Colette moved into
9 rue de Beaujolais for the first time, returning
definitively in 1938, and it was here that she wrote
most of her work up until her death in 1954.
Jean Cocteau first came to the Palais-Royal in 1940
and met Stefan Zweig at the Hôtel de Beaujolais,
just prior to his exile in the United States. Cocteau
bought an apartment at 36 rue de Montpensier
where he lived for over ten years during a particularly
creative period which saw him write La Belle et la Bête,
Les Parents Terribles and L’Aigle à Deux Têtes amongst
other works.
*Explanations overleaf.
The Domaine
National du
Palais-Royal
A town within the town
From the Palais-Cardinal to
the Palais-Royal
The Palais-Royal
in 1679,
engraving by
Gilles Jodelet
de la Boissière
In 1624 the Cardinal de Richelieu, Armand Jean
du Plessis, was appointed Chief Minister to the
King, and decided to take up abode near the Louvre
Palace, the residence of Louis XIII. To this purpose
he acquired the Hôtel
de Rambouillet and
subsequently bought
several adjacent plots of
land so as to have a fitting
dwelling built for someone
of his rank. In 1634 he entrusted this project to the
architect Jacques Lemercier. When Louis XIII died in
1643, Anne of Austria took up residence there with
her sons, Louis XIV and Philippe I, Duke of Orléans.
A place of pleasure and power
In 1692 Louis XIV gave the Palace to his brother
Philippe I, Duke of Orléans. It remained the
property of the Orléans family until 1793, and in
the 18th century the gardens became one of the
favourite haunts of Parisian high society. As part
of the major changes to the urban environment,
the Palais-Royal became the seat of political and
administrative institutions in the 19th century. The
French Council of State took up its headquarters
there in 1875, followed by the Constitutional
Council in 1958, and then the Ministry of Culture
when it was set up in 1959.
Visit
L
The setting for
historical events
Information
The main courtyard
The galleries
In 1781 Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans*
commissioned architect Victor Louis to build housing
around three sides of the garden. Colossal pilasters*
of composite order* were placed at regular intervals
along the facades of these five-storey terraced
dwellings. The arcades on the ground floor were
used for shops. The galleries they formed bore the
names of the Duke of Orléans’s sons – Montpensier,
Beaujolais and Valois.
Rue de Beaujolais
5
Rue de Montpensier
Despite the transformations it has undergone over
time, the H-shaped layout characteristic of Richelieu’s
original palace has survived, with its outer courtyard*
and main courtyard. The architect Pierre Fontaine*
completed Victor Louis’s project on the request of
the future King Louis-Philippe in 1828 and built
the Doric porticos* to the Orleans Gallery.
1 The Proues Gallery in the Valois wing dates from
1634, and is one of the few remaining parts of the
Palais-Cardinal. The ground floor with its decor
of rostra* and anchors evokes Richelieu’s role
as Superintendent of Navigation and Trade.
In 1983 the main courtyard was rehabilitated,
and the Ministry of Culture launched a policy
of public commissions.
2 Photo-souvenir: Les Deux Plateaux is a work by
Daniel Buren that was installed in 1985 and restored
in 2009. It is composed of striped cylinders placed
on a grid that is aligned with the columns of the
Orleans Gallery. The cylinders are made of white
Carrara marble and black Pyrenean marble.
3 Fontaines: this work by Pol Bury was installed
in 1985 in the Orleans Gallery and is composed
of two fountains whose metallic spheres reflect
the Palace’s architecture.
N
The Théatre
du Palais-Royal
6
4
Rue de Valois
History
8
Reception
7
The
Constitutional
Council
The
Comédie
Française
3
2
Main
courtyard
1
The Ministry
of Culture and
Communication
The Council
of State
Place
Colette
Place du
Palais-Royal
4 The Montpensier Gallery was completed in 1784,
as were the Beaujolais and Valois Galleries. In 1940
the poet Jean Cocteau moved to number 36, where
he lived for more than ten years.
5 The Beaujolais Gallery is home to the restaurant
Le Grand Véfour, named after Jean Véfour who was cook
to Philippe Égalité* and who turned the former Café
de Chartres, which had opened in 1784, into one of
leading gastronomic restaurants. Le Grand Véfour became
the meeting place for leading figures in Parisian political
and artistic circles. The decor of the restaurant is placed
on the Supplementary List of Historic Monuments. The
writer Colette lived for nearly 20 years at 9 rue de
Beaujolais. A commemorative plaque has been placed
above the Perron passage.
6 The Valois Gallery is an ideal place for strolling
thanks to its many boutiques, and is now home to
part of the Ministry of Culture and Communication.
7 The Orleans Gallery is the fourth wing and was
meant to enclose the garden to the south, but lack of
money meant that Victor Louis’s project was abandoned
in favour of temporary wooden galleries, built in 1786.
These two covered walkways were used for all sorts
of unusual attractions and businesses, and they became
known as the “camp des Tartares”. In 1828 the Duke of
Orléans, the future King Louis Philippe, commissioned
the architect Pierre Fontaine* to complete the
Palais-Royal, and the fire-damaged wooden galleries
were replaced by the Orleans Gallery, a luxurious
glazed and gas-lit passageway with boutiques on
either side. It was a success and launched the
fashion for covered passageways in Paris.
Pierre Fontaine* created the ornamental basin in
1817. In 1992 the garden designer Mark Rudkin
conceived two “green rooms” bordered by
flowerbeds. The Centre des monuments nationaux,
which is in charge of running the site, has devised
a sustainable gardening policy based on respecting
natural cycles and planting perennials.
8 A small bronze cannon was made by the
clockmaker Rousseau, who had a shop in the
Beaujolais Gallery, and installed in 1786. It was
placed on the Parisian meridian and enabled people
to set their watches when it was fired at midday
each day. A magnifying glass caused the sun’s rays
to light the fuse. It ceased functioning in 1911
when Greenwich Mean Time was imposed by law.
After the cannon was stolen in 1998 a replica was
installed in the garden, in 2002, and it has been
fired at midday every Wednesday since 2010.
The garden
The garden is laid out on either side of the central
alley and aligned with the building. It was created by
Pierre Desgots for Richelieu in 1633, before being
redesigned by André Le Nôtre in 1674. Its layout was
definitively altered when Victor Louis’s wings of housing
were added, limiting its size to its current dimensions
of 226 metres long by about 92 metres wide.
*Explanations overleaf.