Château de Vincennes

Time to resume blogging! Thanks for your very kind comments on the preceding post! ... and of course, all the best for 2010!

Maybe a glimpse of what the Champs Elysées looked like when I crossed it on my walk home well after midnight, early January 1.

So, now, today's subject, the Vincennes castle.

The first kings of France moved a lot, from one castle or fortress to another, not necessarily in Paris; some provincial castles were then and also later frequently used, e.g. along the Loire valley, but also close to Paris - Fontainebleau, St.Germain-en-Laye....

After some more preliminary installations, around the year 1000 the Palais Royal on Ile de la Cité was created, today with some remains in the Palais de Justice (see previous post), including the Sainte Chapelle (see previous post). The Louvre (see previous posts) was made to a royal castle, then rather a fortress, during the 14th century.

During the 12th and 13th centuries, the royal family had also a preference for Vincennes, more or less as a summer and hunting residence. A bit later, the Château de Vincennes became, about simultaneously with the Louvre, a fortified castle, with a keep, walls and moats, thus constructed during the 14th century. It was frequently used by the royals for centuries.

If the original Louvre castle has been destroyed (the foundations can still be seen underground), the Vincennes castle is to a large extent saved as it was during medieval times. The donjon, the walls, the moats (today without water) and the drawbridges are still there. The donjon, which is the highest remaining construction of this type in Europe, was initially inhabited by the royals. It has of course some thick walls, dark rooms, steep stairs (well used)... During the centuries other more comfortable buildings were added, now disappeared.

The last addendums were made by the young Louis XIV, who added the King’s and the Queen’s pavilions in the beginning of his reign, using the same architects and artists that later were involved in the creation of Versailles (Le Vau, Le Nôtre for the gardens...). He and his court spent considerable time here until they abandoned as well the Louvre as Vincennes for Versailles in 1682.

The Vincennes castle has also its Sainte Chapelle, commenced during the 14th century, but completed only in the middle of the 16th century. It’s at present under restoration and the photo of the inside is actually a photo which I photoed.

When the royals abandoned the Vincennes castle, it was used for different things including manufacturing of chinaware, weapons... Especially the keep / donjon has frequently been used as a prison. I will not make the list of all famous prisoners, it’s long; perhaps just mention the Marquis de Sade, who spent some six years here. One can see a letter that he addressed to his wife in 1780.

It may be interesting to know that General De Gaulle for a while considered installing the presidential palace at Vincennes.

Paris is a rather small circle with two appendixes, the Bois de Boulogne in the west (see previous posts) and the Bois de Vincennes in the east. Actually, the Château de Vincennes is today situated just outside the Paris border.

As we can see, the Vincennes castle was well outside the city (the map from the 17th century), surrounded by forests, lakes and gardens, which to a large extent have been saved; the Bois de Vincennes (on which I may make a post or two, when the leaves and flowers are back).