Palais du Luxembourg, Paris

Palais du Luxembourg, Paris mini guide

This large park has sprawling lawns and an abundant display of flowers and is popular with both young and old. Children can rent boats and sail in the ponds while the older people can play chess under awnings. There are many statues of the queens of France, including a figure of Saint Genevieve, the patron of Paris.

The palace was built for Marie de Médicis, mother of king Louis XIII of France, on the site of an old hôtel particulier owned by François, duc de Luxembourg, hence its name.

The architect Salomon de Brosse, designed it as a Florentine palace because Marie de Medicis liked this style. He was the son of Jean de Brosse, another architect and he inherited the position as the architect of Marie de Medicis from his uncle Jacques II Androuet Du Cerceau.

In 1642, Marie bequeathed the Luxembourg to her second son, Gaston d'Orléans, the king's younger brother. It passed to his widow and to his daughter, Anne, Duchess of Montpensier, who made it her residence. Her daughter, the duchesse de Guise, inherited it in 1660 and gave it to Louis XIV in 1694. The palace was not used again until it was owned by Louis XVI who gave it in 1778 to his brother, the Comte de Provence. During the French Revolution, it was briefly a prison and later the first residence of Napoleon Bonaparte, as First Consul of France. It has continued its senatorial role, with brief interruptions, ever since.

In the nineteenth century the palace was extensively remodeled, with a new garden façade by Alphonse de Gisors (1836-1841), and a cycle of paintings (1845-1847) by Eugène Delacroix that was added to the library.

The Palais was a designated "strong point" for German forces defending the city in August 1944, but thanks to the decision of commanding Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz to surrender the city rather than fight, the Palais was only minimally damaged.