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| paris architecture |
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| top ten paris |
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part of the essential architecture network |
| Top Ten Essential Architecture | top Paris Palaces | |||||||||||||
| For a more complete list, see Paris Main List | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Palace of Versailles | |||||||||||||
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The Château de Versailles —or simply Versailles— is a royal château, in Versailles, France. In English it is often referred to as the Palace of Versailles. When the château was built Versailles was a country village, but it is now a suburb of Paris with city status in its own right. From 1682, when King Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in 1789, the Court of Versailles was the centre of power in Ancien Régime France. |
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| 2 | Chateau de Villette, | |||||||||||||
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Designed by architect Francois Mansart around 1668 for Jean Dyel, the Comte d'Aufflay, Louis XIV's ambassador to Venice and finished around 1696 by his nephew Jules Hardouin-Mansart. One of the most significant historical Chateaux in France, Villette is at once both simple and sumptuous with the great octagonal salon in white and blue that has dessus-de-portes by Boucher, the elegant dining room with the original 17th century carved stone buffet, magnificent boiseries and the stone entry hall which completely exalts the classicism of the period. |
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| 3 | Palais de Chaillot | |||||||||||||
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For the Exposition Internationale of 1937, the old Palais du Trocadéro was demolished and replaced by the Palais de Chaillot which now tops the hill. It was designed in classicizing "moderne" style by architects Louis-Hippolyte Boileau, Jacques Carlu and Léon Azema. Like the old palais, the palais de Chaillot features two wings shaped to form a wide arc: indeed, these wings were build on the foundations of those of the former building. However, unlike the old palais, the wings are independent buildings and there is no central element to connect them: instead, a wide esplanade leaves an open view from the place du Trocadéro to the Eiffel Tower and beyond. |
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| 4 | Château de Maisons near Paris | |||||||||||||
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The Château de Maisons (now Château de Maisons-Laffitte), in Yvelines, Île-de-France, designed by François Mansart from 1630 to 1651, is a prime example of French baroque architecture and a reference point in the history of French architecture. |
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| 5 | Vaux-le-Vicomte near Paris | |||||||||||||
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The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte is a Classical French chateau located in Maincy, near Melun, 55 km southeast of Paris in the Seine-et-Marne département of France. It was built from 1658 to 1661 for Nicolas Fouquet, Marquis de Belle-Isle (Belle-Ile-en-Mer), Viscount of Melun and Vaux, the superintendent of finances of Louis XIV. |
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| 6 | Palais de L'Élysée | |||||||||||||
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The Palais de L'Élysée has its entrance on the rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré but the property occupies a full block that extends to Avenue Gabriel and much of the block consists of gardens. |
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| 8 | Jardins des Tuileries | |||||||||||||
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The Tuileries Palace stood in Paris, France, on the right bank of the River Seine until 1871, when it was destroyed. It closed the western end of the Louvre courtyard, which has remained unopen since the destruction of the palace. |
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| 9 | Jardin du Luxembourg | |||||||||||||
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The Palais du Luxembourg in the VIe arrondissement of Paris, north of the Luxembourg Garden, is where the French Senate meets. The formal Luxembourg Garden (Jardin du Luxembourg) presents a 25-hectare green parterre of gravel and lawn populated with statues and provided with large basins of water where children sail model boats. In the southwest corner, there is an orchard of apple and pear trees and the théâtre des marionettes (puppet theatre). |
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| 10 | Jardins du Palais Royal | |||||||||||||
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