Château de Compiègne
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The Château de Compiègne is a French château, a royal residence built for Louis XV and restored by Napoleon. Compiègne was one of three seats of royal government, the others being Versailles and Fontainebleau. It is located in Compiègne in the Oise département, and open to the public.
Even before today's château was constructed, Compiègne was the preferred summer residence for the monarchs of France, primarily for hunting given its proximity to the nearby forest. The first royal residence was built in 1374 for Charles V and a long procession of successors both visited it and modified it. Louis XIV alone resided in Compiègne some 75 times. Louis XV was perhaps even more favorably impressed; the Comte de Chevergny described his infatuation: "Hunting was his main passion... and Compiègne, with its immense forest, with its endless avenues amongst the trees, with its stretches down which you could ride all day and never come to the end, was the ideal place to indulge that passion."
In 1750, prominent architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel proposed a thorough-going revision of the château. Work began in 1751 and was finished in 1788 by Gabriel's student Le Dreux de La Châtre. The ancient town ramparts dictated the château's triangular plan; the resultant building covers about 5 acres. It is neo-classic in style, with a rigorous simplicity and clarity governing both its external and interior features.
During the French Revolution,the châteaupassed into the jurisdiction of the Ministerfor the Interior. In 1795 all furniture was sold and its works of art were sent to the .Muséum Central. At that point it was essentially gutted. Napoleon visited in 1799 and again in 1803; in 1804 the château became a 'domaine impérial'; and in 1807 he ordered that it be made habitable again. Architects Berthault,Percier and Fontaine, decorators Dubois and Redouté, and cabinet makers Jacob-Desmalter and Marcion restored the château. Its layout was altered, a ballroom added, and the garden was replanted and linked directly to the forest.
The result is a striking example of First Empire style (1808-1810), although some traces of the earlier décor survive. Auguste Luchet remarked that "Compiègne speaks of Napoleon as Versailles does of Louis XIV". From 1856 on, Napoleon III and Eugénie made it their autumn residence, and redecorated some rooms in the Second Empire style.
Today's visitors can find three distinct museums within the chateau: the apartments themselves; the Museum of the Second Empire; and the National Car Museum (Le Musée de la Voiture), founded 1927, with a fine collection of carriages, bicycles, and automobiles.
