Hôtel Matignon

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Hôtel Matignon
Main facade of Matignon from the court
Map
General information
TypeHôtel particulier
Architectural styleBaroque
Location7th arrondissement of Paris, France
Current tenantsGabriel Attal, Prime Minister of France
Construction started1722
Completed1725
Design and construction
Architect(s)Jean Courtonne

The Hôtel Matignon (French:

metonym for the governmental action of the Prime Minister of France. The current tenant has been Prime Minister Gabriel Attal
since he took office on 9 January 2024.

History

17th century

In 1649, as part of his plan for the construction of the Hôtel des Invalides, Louis XIV decided to restore the old "Chemin du Bois de la Garenne," which had become the "Rue de Varenne," that linked Saint-Germain-des-Prés, at the western end of Paris, with the marshy terrain chosen as the new building site. Henceforth the "Noble Faubourg" gained a new lease on life, the proximity of Versailles being irresistible for an aristocracy who lived exclusively by and for the Court.[1]

18th century

On 30 September 1717, Christian-Louis de Montmorency Luxembourg, Prince of Tigny and Marshal of France, purchased, for the sum of 91 Livres, 2869 toises (30,000 m2) of land along the Rue de Varenne. He was a lover of gardens and intended to create a country park. In 1722, he commissioned a little-known architect, Jean Courtonne, to conceive and construct a mansion.[2] His success in this endeavour won him entry to the Academy of Architecture, where he wrote a much-remarked Treatise on Perspectives (1725). But the expense of the enterprise forced the Prince of Tigny to sell, and it was Jacques Goyon, Count of Matignon who bought the Hôtel, completed in 1725, as a present for his son, the Duke of Valentinois.

Courtonne's design was highly original. Rising from a broad terrace, the main residence, a two-storey building crowned by a

balustrade, comprises two suites of rooms. Access from the street is gained by a portico ornamented by columns. This archway reveals the main courtyard, bracketed by two low wings of offices and outbuildings, to the right of which are situated another courtyard, the stables and the kitchens. The façade is broken by three advances. Those to the right and left house the staircases, while the central pavilion displays a magnificent balcony sculpted with lion motifs. Visitors' admiration is drawn by two singular architectural features: the segmented cupola
of the entrance hall and, to its right, the first room to have been originally designed for dining. The façade seen from the garden runs the entire length of the buildings, concealing the main courtyard and the servants' yard. Although the design results in a slight imbalance in the natural disposition of the mansion, it respects the placement of a central pavilion with three panels surmounted by a broken pediment bearing the arms of the owners.

cornices and the stucco work are by Jean-Martin Pelletier and Jean Herpin
. At the time, any "well-dressed" person was authorised by the owners to visit these splendors in their absence.

In 1731, the wife of

Honoré III, mounted the throne. Although he was open to the revolutionary ideas of the time, he was imprisoned on 20 September 1793. At his liberation a year later, he was ruined, and his property under seal. His sons obtained restitution, but were obliged[clarification needed
] to put the mansion up for sale in 1802.

19th century

It was bought by

Napoleon
after the divorce.

Official reception at Matignon

In 1808, the Hôtel Matignon passed into the hands of one of the best-known figures of the first half of the 19th century:

département of the Bouches-de-l'Elbe
. As the endeavour had failed, Talleyrand did not consider it necessary to return the sum. He was obliged to put the Hôtel for sale; the Emperor had it purchased for 1,280 000 Francs ... but Talleyrand never reimbursed Hamburg.

In 1815, at the start of the

Duc de Bourbon. She promptly installed a community of nuns on the premises, charged with praying for the souls of victims of the French Revolution
. Her niece inherited the property in 1822 and moved the community to the Rue de Picpus to rent out the Hôtel.

Following the revolution of 1848, it was planned to place the Hôtel Matignon at the disposal of the head of the executive branch of the

Napoleon III
, preferred the Élysée Palace.

A short time later the Hôtel was sold to the

Count of Paris take up residence at the Rue de Varenne. He came to occupy the ground floor of the Hôtel Matignon. On 14 May 1886, this was the setting of one of the century's most sumptuous receptions: three thousand guests, the entire aristocracy of France, the diplomatic corps and numerous political figures thronged to celebrate the marriage of Princess Amélie, the Count's daughter, with Carlos, heir to the Portuguese throne. The story goes that, on the day of the reception, the President had a sudden desire to visit the Bois de Boulogne, but was unable to leave the Elysée because of the congested traffic. The following day, no doubt alarmed by such a large gathering of Monarchists in the Capital, the President of the council, Charles de Freycinet
, called for a law exiling pretenders to the French throne. The next week the legislation was passed.

The Duchess of Galliera was disenchanted and quit Paris, leaving her mansion to the

First World War found the two countries on opposite sides and, confiscated in 1919, the Hôtel Matignon was declared "enemy property". On 21 November 1922, after prolonged negotiations, France once more assumed ownership. During World War I, the hôtel was also the place where the philatelic collection of Philipp von Ferrary (the most valuable stamp collection ever assembled) was deposited when its owner, the son of the Duke of Galliera and an Austrian citizen, had to flee France in 1917. The collection was later broken up and sold by the French government after the war, as war reparations. In 1923 the hotel was designated as a historical monument by the state.[2][3]

Home of the head of government

Matignon Park

There were plans to turn the mansion into a museum; the property was to be subdivided and individual dwellings built, including the adjacent mansion built by the architect Jean Walter in 1924. However,

Pierre Étienne Flandin
became the first new occupant.

In 1936 the "

Matignon Accords" were signed between Léon Blum
and the leaders of the spring 1936 strikes, introducing the 40-hour work week and paid vacations.

Second World War, did not leave his apartment near the Arc de Triomphe and worked at the War Ministry.[4] During the war the government moved to the city of Vichy, but on 21 August 1944, it was in Paris that the resistance leader Yvon Morandat and his companion seized the "Government Mansion", the Hôtel Matignon. In their haste they even confused the Avenue Matignon, located on the Right Bank of the Seine, with the Hôtel Matignon, situated on the Left Bank
.

It was there that, on 25 August, General Charles de Gaulle convened the "Provisory Council of the Republic". Subsequent presidents of the council followed his example and, his return in 1958, like the new republic, changed nothing more at Matignon than the occupant's name, which, instead of president of the council, became prime minister.

Miscellaneous

See also

  • Élysée Palace (official residence of the President of the French Republic)

References

  1. ^ "Matignon Hotel". France in the United States / Embassy of France in Washington, D.C. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  2. ^ a b "La petite histoire de l'Hôtel de Matignon". gouvernement.fr (in French). Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Ancien hôtel Matignon".
  4. ^ Gunther, John (1940). Inside Europe. New York: Harper & Brothers. pp. 145–156.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hôtel de Matignon.
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