Château de Fontainebleau

Fontainebleau

At the gates of the forest that bears its name, the Château de Fontainebleau is one of the rare French royal palaces to have been inhabited without interruption from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. A first fortress stood here as early as the 12th century, mentioned in 1137 in a charter of Louis VII, around a spring said to have given the place its name. From 1528, François I made it his favourite residence and brought in Italian artists, Rosso Fiorentino and Primaticcio, to create the celebrated gallery that bears his name, cradle of the School of Fontainebleau. The château saw the centuries pass: Charles V was received here in 1539, Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes here in 1685, and Napoleon I held Pope Pius VII captive here before signing his abdication in 1814, followed by his farewell in the Cour du Cheval Blanc, since known as the Cour des Adieux, a moment that popular memory has frozen into a last look from the fallen sovereign to his guard. Unlike Versailles, the symbol of a power set in stone, Fontainebleau remained a living place, where each monarch added his mark, between Renaissance apartments, gardens designed by Le Nôtre and the carp pond. Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1981, the château remains a great site where eight centuries of French history can be read, stone by stone.

Getting there : Courtyard and gardens free of charge; admission charge for the château, open every day except Tuesday

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound