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The Château de Compiègne seen from the gardenMain staircase at the châteauMusic lounge
The Château de Compiègne is a French château, a former royal residence built for Louis XV and later restored by Napoleon.[1][2] Compiègne was one of three seats of royal government, the others being Versailles and Fontainebleau. It is located in Compiègne in the Oisedepartment and is open to the public.
History
Even before the château was constructed, Compiègne was the preferred summer residence for French monarchs, primarily for hunting given its proximity to the Forest of Compiègne.
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 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, the prominent architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel proposed a thorough renovation 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 (20,000 m2). It is neoclassical in style, with simplicity and clarity governing both its external and interior features.
During the French Revolution, the château passed into the jurisdiction of the Minister for the Interior. In 1795 all furniture was sold and its works of art were sent to the Muséum Central; it was essentially gutted.
The result is an example of Empire style (1808-1810), though some traces of the earlier décor survive. The writer 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.
Museums
Today's visitors can find three distinct museums within the château: the apartments themselves; the Museum of the Second Empire; and the National Car and Tourism Museum (Le Musée de la Voiture), founded in 1927, with a collection of carriages, bicycles, and automobiles.[3]
