Château de Montceaux

Coordinates: 48°56′35″N 2°59′10″E / 48.943056°N 2.986111°E / 48.943056; 2.986111
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Château de Montceaux
In the 17th century
Château de Montceaux is located in France
Château de Montceaux
Location within France
General information
Architectural styleFrench Renaissance,
Town or cityMontceaux-lès-Meaux (Seine-et-Marne)
CountryFrance
Coordinates48°56′35″N 2°59′10″E / 48.943056°N 2.986111°E / 48.943056; 2.986111
Construction startedc. 1520[1]
Website
www.chateaudemontceaux.fr

The Château de Montceaux, also known as the Château de Montceaux-en-Brie or the Château de Montceaux-lès-Meaux, was a royal French Renaissance château, located in what is now the commune of Montceaux-lès-Meaux in the Seine-et-Marne department of north-central France. Mostly demolished in 1798, only vestiges remain.

History

Henri II gave it to Catherine de' Medici in 1556, and it was her earliest building project.[2] The building consisted of a central pavilion housing a straight staircase, and two wings with a pavilion at each end. Catherine wanted to cover the alley in the garden where Henry played pall-mall, an early form of croquet. For this commission, Philibert de l'Orme built her a grotto set on a base made to look like natural rock, from which guests could watch the games while taking refreshments. The grotto was completed in 1558 but has not survived.[3]

After Henri II's death in 1559, Catherine kept the château and stayed there with the court on numerous occasions. The most famous incident connected with the château is the "Surprise of Meaux" (1567) in which Huguenot troops planned to kidnap the queen and her son, King Charles IX, but she learned of the plot and hurried back to the Paris, surrounded by regiments of Swiss Guards.[4] After Henri II's death, Catherine frequently ran short of money due to her other projects and the Wars of Religion, and little further work appears to have been done at Montceaux. The château remained incomplete at the time of her death in 1589.[5]

In 1596,

César, Duc de Vendôme, and in 1601 gave it to his new wife, Marie de' Medici, in gratitude for the birth of the dauphin, the future Louis XIII.[5] The château ceased to be used as a royal residence after 1640, and had fallen into ruin by the time it was demolished by revolutionary decree in 1798.[7] Some ruins remain, a chapel and the buildings of the forecourt, transformed into private dwellings; parts of the east wing are farm buildings.[1]

The château is listed as a

French Ministry of Culture.[8]

Gallery

  • Ruins of the château
    Ruins of the château
  • Columns
    Columns
  • Ruins of the entrance pavilion
    Ruins of the entrance pavilion
  • Angle pavilion, restored in March 2005
    Angle pavilion, restored in March 2005

Notes

  1. ^ a b Babelon 1989, pp. 691–695.
  2. ^ Babelon 1989, p. 691.
  3. ^ Knecht 1998, pp. 228–229.
  4. ^ Babelon 1989, p. 692.
  5. ^ a b Coope 1959, p. 72.
  6. ^ Babelon 1989, p. 694.
  7. ^ Coope 1959, p. 71.
  8. ^ Base Mérimée: PA00087113, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)

Bibliography

  • Babelon, Jean-Pierre (1989). Châteaux de France au siècle de la Renaissance. Paris: Flammarion/Picard.
    ISBN 9782080120625
    .
  • Coope, Rosalys (1959). "The Château of Montceaux-en-Brie",
    JSTOR 750560
    .
  • Knecht, R. J. (1998). Catherine de' Medici. London and New York: Longman.
    ISBN 0582082412
    .
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