The Château de
Lunéville
Lunéville ( ; German, obsolete: ''Lünstadt'' ) is a commune in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle.
It is a subprefecture of the department and lies on the river Meurthe at its confluence with the Vezouze.
History
Lu ...
, which had belonged to the
Dukes of Lorraine
The rulers of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of Lotharingia by the Treaty of Prüm, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were kings of ...
since the thirteenth century, was rebuilt as “the Versailles of Lorraine” by
Duke Léopold from 1703 to 1723, from designs of Pierre Bourdict and Nicolas Dorbay and then of the architect
Germain Boffrand
Germain Boffrand () (16 May 1667 – 19 March 1754) was a French architect. A pupil of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Germain Boffrand was one of the main creators of the precursor to Rococo called the '' style Régence'', and in his interiors, of the ...
, whose masterwork it became. It became the home of King
Stanisław Leszczyński
Stanisław I Leszczyński (; lt, Stanislovas Leščinskis; french: Stanislas Leszczynski; 20 October 1677 – 23 February 1766), also Anglicized and Latinized as Stanislaus I, was twice King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and at v ...
, last
duke of Lorraine
The rulers of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of Lotharingia by the Treaty of Prüm, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were kings of ...
and
Bar.
Lunéville was listed as a ''
Monument historique'' in 1901 and by successive ordinances; its princely apartments are looked after by the Ministry of Defence while the structure is the responsibility of the ''Conseil départemental de Meurthe-et-Moselle''.
On the night of 2 to 3 January 2003, a fire broke out that ravaged the château to the extent that the plaster vault of the ''chapelle royale'' collapsed. Passing through the attics, the fire destroyed the roof over much of the structure. The restoration of the building and its decors is under way.
See also
*
List of Baroque residences
This is a list of Baroque architecture, Baroque palaces and Residenz, residences built in the late 17th and 18th centuries. Baroque architecture is a building style of the Baroque, Baroque era, begun in late 16th-century Italy and spread in Europe ...
References
External links
Lunéville palace official website
Châteaux in Meurthe-et-Moselle
Gardens in Meurthe-et-Moselle
Tourist attractions in Meurthe-et-Moselle
House of Lorraine
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