The Château de Vincennes () is a former fortress and royal residence next to the town of Vincennes, on the eastern edge of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, alongside the Bois de Vincennes. It was largely built between 1361 and 1369, and was a preferred residence, after the Palais de la Cité, of French Kings in the 14th to 16th century. It is particularly known for its "donjon" or

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

, a fortified central tower, the tallest in Europe, built in the 14th century, and for the chapel, Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes, begun in 1379 but not completed until 1552, which is an exceptional example of

Flamboyant Flamboyant (from ) is a form of late Gothic architecture that developed in Europe in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance, from around 1375 to the mid-16th century. It is characterized by double curves forming flame-like shapes in the bar-tr ...

Gothic architecture. Because of its fortifications, the château was often used as a royal sanctuary in times of trouble, and later as a prison and military headquarters. The chapel was listed as an historic monument in 1853, and the keep was listed in 1913. Most of the building is now open to the public.

History

12th–14th century – Louis VII to Saint Louis

The first royal residence was created by an act of Louis VII in 1178. The site had the advantages of good hunting in the surrounding forest, proximity to two former Roman roads to Sens and to Lagny, as well as access by water on the Marne and

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rivers. It was used only occasionally by Louis VII and his successors, but

Louis IX Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the House of Capet, Direct Capetians. He was Coronation of the French monarch, c ...

, or Saint Louis (1226–1270), used it much more often, second only to his time at the Palais de la Cité in Paris. He held meetings of the royal council there, and the Queen and his children often resided there when he was absent from Paris. When Louis IX purchased the reputed Crown of Thorns from the Emperor at Constantinople, Louis received the celebrated relic at Sens Cathedral, escorted it to Vincennes, and then accompanied it to its eventual home in the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. A few thorns from the crown of thorns and a small fragment of the reputed True Cross were deposited at Vincennes for placement in a future chapel. Louis IX said farewell to his family at Vincennes before his departure to the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

, from which he did not return. The Chateau was frequented by the Kings and their families. Philippe III (in 1274) and Philippe IV (in 1284) were each married there and three 14th-century kings died at Vincennes:

Louis X Louis X may refer to: * Louis X of France, "the Quarreller" (1289–1316). * Louis X, Duke of Bavaria (1495–1545) * Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse (14 June 1753 in Prenzlau – 6 April 1830 in Darmstadt) was '' ...

(1316), Philippe V (1322) and Charles IV (1328). The residence at the time was a sprawling manor with four wings located in the northeast corner of the present chateau walls, begun in the late 13th century. It was transferred to the clergy of the Saint-Chapelle after the Keep was completed; vestiges were found during excavations in 1992–1996.

14th century – Fortress of Jean II and Charles V

The defeats of the French and the capture of the King by the English in the

Hundred Years War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagene ...

, as well as uprisings of the Parisian merchants under Etienne Marcel (1357–58) and a rural upraising against the crown, the Jacquerie (1360), persuaded the new French King, Jean II of France and his son, the future Charles V, that they needed a more secure residence close to, but not in the center of Paris. The King ordered the construction of a fortress at Vincennes with high walls and towers surrounding a massive

or central tower, 52 meters (172 feet) high. The work was started in about 1337, and by 1364 the three lower levels of the keep were finished. Charles V moved into the keep in 1367 or 1368, while construction was still underway. When it was completed in 1369–70, it was the tallest fortified structure in Europe. The digging of the deep moat came next (1367), then the fortified gateway (1369). The walls and towers surrounding the keep were finished in 1371–72.

Late 14th – Late 15th century – Wars of Religion – Royal fortress and refuge – La Sainte Chapelle

File:Limbourg brothers - Les très riches heures du Duc de Berry - December (detail) - WGA13030.jpg, The Chateau behind a boar hunt, by Limbourg Brothers or Barthélemy d'Eyck (1412–1416) File:Jean Fouquet - Job and his False Comforters - WGA08033.jpg, The Chateau by Jean Fouquet (1455) File:Château de Vincennes sous Charles V par Pierre Nicolas Ransonette.jpg, The Chateau of Charles V by Pierre Nicolas Ransonette (18th c. engraving) In the turbulent 15th century, the Chateau became a refuge for the kings of France. It was the regular residence of

Charles VI of France Charles VI (3 December 136821 October 1422), nicknamed the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé) and later the Mad (french: le Fol or ''le Fou''), was King of France from 1380 until his death in 1422. He is known for his mental illness and psychotic ...

up until his madness, then was disputed by the two rivals of his succession, Philip the Good of Burgundy and Louis I, Duke of Orléans. In 1415 the knights of

Henry V of England Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the ...

defeated the French at the Battle of Agincourt. The Treaty of Troyes in 1420 granted the Chateau and the Ile-de-France to the English. Henry V of England installed his troops there, repaired the Chateau, and lived there until his death in 1422. An alliance between the Burgundians with

Charles VII of France Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious (french: le Victorieux) or the Well-Served (), was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461. In the midst of the Hundred Years' War, Charles VII inherited the throne of F ...

finally allowed the King to force the English out of the Ile-de-France and to reoccupy the Chateau. He and his successors rarely lived there, preferring the Loire Valley. His successor, Louis XI, also spent most of his time in the Loire Valley, but he made one major modification to Vincennes: He constructed a new royal residence within the walls, the first outside of the keep. It extended the entire length of the southeast wall. Charles V had even greater ambitions for the Chateau. At the end of 1372, he began construction of another wall, a large square more than a kilometre () in length, with towers, to contain the additional buildings he intended to build. This was constructed between 1372 and 1385. The outer wall was given further reinforcement with the construction of a deep moat. The last project begun by Charles the V was laying the foundations of the Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes to hold a set of sacred relics obtained by

, but he died in 1380 in the Manoir de Beauté, a separate residence he had constructed in 1376–1377 southeast of Vincennes, when the work on the new Sainte-Chapelle had just begun. The Sainte-Chapelle of Vincennes, begun in 1379, was still unfinished in the 16th century. In 1520 King

Francois I Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once ...

, a frequent resident, resolved to complete it to celebrate the birth of his son and heir. After his death in 1547,

Henry II of France Henry II (french: Henri II; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Duchess Claude of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder bro ...

took up the work, finishing the vaults, and adding the woodwork and especially the stained glass. It was completed in 1552.

17th and early 18th century – new royal residences

In the early 17th century, Marie De' Medici, the widow of the assassinated

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monar ...

, began a major project to replace the old pavilion of Louis XI and

. Her son

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crow ...

, then age ten, laid the first stone of the new residence in 1610.

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

continued the program on an even larger scale; planned by the royal architect Louis Le Vau. his new residence in the French classical style, now the Batiment du Roi, was finished in 1658, and was twice the size of the Louis XIII residence. In 1688, work began on a new pavilion of the Queen, on the north side of the enclosure. A new formal garden with an orangerie, was built on the west side. A large group of painters and sculptors was assembled to decorate the new buildings. The ensemble was completed with a triumphal arch at the entrance, and was dedicated in August 1660, in time for the return of the King and his new bride to Paris. But the age of royal glory at Vincennes was brief; in 1682 Louis XIV moved the royal court to his residence at Versailles, and in 1715 Louis XV began his reign in Versailles. While the King occasionally went hunting at Vincennes, the Court did not return.

18th – early 19th century – Manufactory, prison, fortress

File:Sturm auf den Donjon.png, Storming of the keep by Revolutionaries (1791) File:Vincennes engraving by William Miller after Turner R531.jpg, The execution of the

Duc d'Enghien Duke of Enghien (french: Duc d'Enghien, pronounced with a silent ''i'') was a noble title pertaining to the House of Condé. It was only associated with the town of Enghien for a short time. Dukes of Enghien – first creation (1566–1569) The ...

in 1804 by William Miller after Turner File:VincennesWatercolor.jpg, Anonymous watercolour of the moat. The weeping willow marks the spot where the Duc d’Enghien was executed File:Le général Daumesnil refuse de livrer Vincennes (huile de Gaston Mélingue, 1882).jpg, General Daumesnil : "I shall surrender Vincennes when I get my leg back". Following the royal departure in the early 18th century, an effort was made to turn the Chateau into a sort of pre-industrial park; the royal porcelain manufactory was opened in the Devil's Tower in 1740, but moved to a larger space in Sèvres in 1756. It was home for a time of an armaments factory and a porcelain factory, then an industrial bakery. It was used occasionally for horse races from 1777 until 1784. In 1787 the King put most of the buildings up for sale, but the sale was interrupted by the French Revolution. The Chateau took on a new role as a military base and prison. Long before the French Revolution, notable prisoners had been held at the Chateau. Early prisoners included the future King Henry IV in 1574, Henri II de Condé (1652–1664); Nicolas Fouquet, the royal minister of finance of Louis XIV (September 1661); and the writer

Denis Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the '' Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a promi ...

. The Marquis de Sade was held there from 1777 to 1784, the writer Honoré Mirabeau from 1777 to 1784, and the famous swindler

Jean Henri Latude Jean Henri Latude (23 March 1725 – 1 January 1805), often called Danry or Masers de Latude, was a French writer famous for his lengthy confinement in the Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Sai ...

, who escaped twice from the Vincennes and once from the Bastille. In 1784, after Mirabeau wrote a series of articles which exposed the abuses of the royal judicial system and the practice of keeping prisoners without trial, the use of the keep as prison was discontinued. At the end of February 1791, a mob of more than a thousand workers from the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, encouraged by members of the Cordeliers Club and led by

Antoine Joseph Santerre Antoine Joseph Santerre (16 March 1752 in Paris6 February 1809) was a businessman and general during the French Revolution. Early life The Santerre family moved from Saint-Michel-en-Thiérache to Paris in 1747 where they purchased a brewery know ...

, marched out to the château, which, rumour had it, was being readied on the part of the Crown for political prisoners, and with crowbars and pickaxes set about demolishing it, as the Bastille had recently been demolished. The work was interrupted by the Marquis de Lafayette who took several ringleaders prisoners, to the jeers of the Parisian workers. Following the French Revolution, the chateau was denounced as a symbol of oppression, but then was used again by

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

to hold prisoners transferred from the Temple Prison in Paris, Napoleon demolished the Temple prison to prevent it from becoming a royalist shrine to Marie Antoinette, who had been held there. Two historical items from the Temple Prison are displayed at Vincennes; an armoured prison cell door, and a stove of ceramic tiles which had originally been in the cell of Marie Antoinette. During the reign of Napoleon, the chateau and its buildings underwent considerable reconstruction to serve as a military arsenal. A new wooden floor divided the Sainte-Chapelle into upper and lower levels, and it was turned into a storehouse for munitions. The Pavilion of the King and the Pavilion of the Queen became barracks for the garrison. Most of the towers of the surrounding wall, which were in a poor state of repair, were demolished, with the exception of the Tower of the Village, which still has its original height, and the Tower of the Woods, which had collapsed earlier. The moat of the chateau was also the site of a famous execution, that of

, which took place on 21 March 1804. He was accused of trying the reinstate the royal government. A willow tree in the moat was planted to mark the place he was executed, and is still there today. In 1814, after Napoleon's defeat in Russia, as the allied armies of the Sixth Coalition approached Paris, the chateau was commanded by General Pierre Yrieix Daumesnil. Daumesnil had a wooden leg, replacing a limb he lost at the

Battle of Wagram The Battle of Wagram (; 5–6 July 1809) was a military engagement of the Napoleonic Wars that ended in a costly but decisive victory for Emperor Napoleon's French and allied army against the Austrian army under the command of Archduke Charles ...

(5–6 July 1809). When the allies demanded his surrender, Daumenil responded, "I shall surrender Vincennes when I get my leg back". He finally agreed to give up the fortress only when ordered to do by the newly restored King,

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

Late 19th – military base and public park

During the Restoration and the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (french: Monarchie de Juillet), officially the Kingdom of France (french: Royaume de France), was a liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 26 July 1830, with the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 23 ...

, in the first half of the 19th century, the chateau and park were used by military, particularly the artillery; an artillery school was opened there in 1826. The surrounding park was used for military exercises and as a firing range. In the first part of the 19th century three separate forts were constructed within the park to serve as part of the defences of the city. In the mid-century, the separate forts were connected together into one very large military complex. The buildings of the chateau itself and its surroundings were the park as part of the new fortifications of the city. Some parts of the medieval complexes were modified to fit into the new defensive plan. Under Napoleon III, the Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes was declared an historical landmark, and in 1854 restoration of the chapel was begun by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc.The keep of the chateau was given landmark status in 1913, though restoration did not begin until after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Beginning just before 1860, the Emperor Louis Napoleon also began to develop an extensive new public park to the southeast of Paris, the Bois de Vincennes, modelled after the Bois de Boulogne he had begun on the other side of the city. The territory of the Bois de Vincennes, with the exception of the military bases, was ceded to the City of Paris on 24 July 1860, and became part of the XII arrondissement of Paris. On March 20, 1871, two days after the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defende ...

seized power in the city, Commune soldiers came to the Chateau and fraternised with the regular army soldiers. The Chateau surrendered to the Commune without a fight. A few weeks later, on 27 May, after the regular French army had recaptured Paris from the Commune, the Chateau was the last holdout where the red flag still flew. . A colonel of the regular army arrived and negotiated the surrender of the remaining Communards. The soldiers left peacefully, while some of the officers who had joined the Commune were arrested, tried and shot in the moat of the chateau. A plaque on the wall of the moat marks the place.

20th century – Command post

During the First World War, the German spy Mata Hari was executed by a firing squad on October 15, 1917, in the moat of the Chateau. The restoration of the chateau was halted in 1936 by concerns about the rising threat from Nazi Germany. Beginning in that year, a large underground bunker was dug beneath the Pavilion of the Queen in the southeast corner, to serve as the headquarters of the chief of staff. The generals Maurice Gamelin and then Maxime Weygand directed the defense of France from there, until they were overwhelmed by the German Blitzkrieg. France surrendered on June 14, 1940. The Germans then used it as a base for their own soldiers, as well as a prison where French Resistance members were held. One of the first members of the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

, Jacques Bonsergent, was tried and executed there on November 10, 1940. On 20 August 1944, during the battle for the

Liberation of Paris The liberation of Paris (french: Libération de Paris) was a military battle that took place during World War II from 19 August 1944 until the German garrison surrendered the French capital on 25 August 1944. Paris had been occupied by Nazi Ger ...

, 26 policemen and members of the Resistance arrested by soldiers of the Waffen-SS were executed in the eastern moat of the fortress, and their bodies thrown in a common grave. On the evening of August 24, 1944, the same day that the armoured division of General Leclerc reached the centre of Paris, the German forces occupying the Château set off explosives in the three storage areas of munitions, badly damaging the Pavilions of the King and Queen and opening a gap in the wall between the entry pavilion and tower of Paris, before they withdrew. The next day the 4th U.S. infantry division reached the Château and the eastern neighbourhoods of Paris. In 1948 the Chateau became the headquarters of France's

Defence Historical Service In France, the Defence Historical Service (''Service historique de la défense'' or ''SHD'') is the archives centre of Ministry of Defence and its armed forces. It was set up by decree in 2005. The SHD consists of the "Centre historique des a ...

, which maintains a museum in the keep. A major campaign began in 1986 to preserve and restore the architectural heritage of the Château.

Plan and Description

File:Plan Château de Vincennes - 2021.svg, Plan of the Château File:Chateau-de-Vincennes-donjon.jpg, Wide angle view of the keep File:Sainte Chapelle Vincennes 2014 ext.jpg, The Sainte-Chapelle and the Queen's Pavilion File:Château de Vincennes (35994433350).jpg, The keep and the King's Pavilion Only traces remain of the earlier castle and the substantial remains date from the 14th century. The castle forms a rectangle whose perimeter is more than a kilometer in length (). It has six towers and three gates, each originally high, and is surrounded by a deep stone lined moat. The towers of the ''grande enceinte'' now stand only to the height of the walls, having been demolished in the 1800s, save the ''Tour du Village'' on the north side of the enclosure. The south end consists of two wings facing each other, the ''Pavillon du Roi'' and the ''Pavillon de la Reine'', built by Louis Le Vau.

The Keep

File:94300 Vincennes, France - panoramio.jpg, The Donjon or Keep File:Intérieur Donjon Château Vincennes - Vincennes (FR94) - 2020-10-10 - 31.jpg, Interior of the Keep File:Chateau de Vincennes - Donjon 6eme etage 2.JPG, Sixth floor of the Keep The Donjon or Keep of Vincennes was finished in 1369–70. It is high, the highest of its kind in Europe. Its walls are wide on each side, and at each corner is tower in diameter, the same height as the building. An additional tower, the height of the rest, is attached to the north of the northwest tower, providing support the whole structure and also containing latrines for all five levels of the keep. The wall at the base of the keep are 3.26 meters, or ten feet, thick. It served as both a royal residence and a very visible symbol of royal power. The keep is one of the first known examples of

rebar Rebar (short for reinforcing bar), known when massed as reinforcing steel or reinforcement steel, is a steel bar used as a tension device in reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures to strengthen and aid the concrete under tension. ...

usage. Each of the eight floors has a central room about ten meters on each side. with a height varying from . Each of the lower four floors have s central column which reinforces the vaulted ceiling. The columns were decorated with sculpture and painted in bright colors. One striking feature of the construction was the use of iron bars to strengthen the structure. More than two and half kilometres () of iron bars, in various shapes, were built into the structure.Iron bars reinforced the doorways, windows and the ceilings of the corridors, and, unusually, belts of iron bars surrounded the entire tower at the ground level, fifth level and sixth level. In the Middle Ages the only access to the Keep was on the first floor, by a bridge from the terrace of the chatelet, where the King's offices were located. A narrow stairway, within the south wall. The two entrances on the ground floor were not added until the 18th century. When the keep was given an additional floor, and grand stairway was built connecting the two noble floors, the first and second.

Keep interior

File:Vincennes (94) Château Donjon Chambre du Roi 01.JPG, Bedchamber of the King File:Vincennes (94), château, donjon, chambre du Roi, chapiteau central 2.jpg, Central column in chamber of the King File:Vincennes (94), château, donjon, chambre du Roi, cheminée 2.jpg, Decoration of fireplace in the chamber of the King File:Vincennes (94) Château Donjon Chambre du Roi 14.JPG, Sculpture at the base of a vault, chamber of the King * The ground floor of the Keep has wells and the remains of a large fireplace. It was probably originally used by royal servants. It was largely rebuilt when the building was used as a prison. * The first floor contained the meeting hall of the Council of the King, and was also used when needed for bedchambers of the Queen and others close to the King. The walls were originally covered with oak panels, some of which are still in place. Studies of the wood indicate that it was cut between 1367 and 1371 in the Baltic region or present-day Poland. * The second floor was occupied by the bedchamber of the King, and has vestiges of the decoration added by Charles V of France when he rebuilt it 1367–38. The walls were originally covered with oak panels, and the vaulted ceiling was decorated with sculpted keystones and consoles and painted

fleurs-de-lys The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

and the coat-of-arms of the King, against a blue background, still visible. A small oratory is set into the north wall, though its wood panelling has disappeared. * The third floor has the same plan as the second, but lacks the ornate decoration of the royal floor. It was probably used by important guests of the King. * The fourth, fifth and sixth floors, which lack ornament, were probably used by domestic servants or soldiers. They were also used to store munitions for the weapons placed at the windows of the fourth floor and on the terraces of tower of latrines and the main body of the keep. The sixth floor has no windows and a ceiling only two meters high, and a single entrance. Beginning in 1752, the upper floors were used primarily as prison cells. The bars in the windows and doors date from that period. The extensive and elaborate graffiti still found on the walls on the upper floors also dates from the 17th and 18th century.

Wall of the Keep and Entry Pavilion

The Keep is surrounded by a rectangular stone wall, or "enceinte" about long one each side, high, and thick. It is crenelated at the top level with a walkway that was originally open but was given a tile roof in the 15th century and then the present slate roof. At each of the four corners is an Echauguette, a small watch tower that protrudes outward, to give better oversight of the walls. In the northeast corner of the walkway, next to the chatelet, is a group of rooms which originally were part of the working office of the King, on the second floor of the chatelet. They include a small chapel, a hall, and a chamber.

The Sainte-Chapelle

File:Sainte Chapelle Château Vincennes - Vincennes (FR94) - 2020-10-10 - 17.jpg, West front of Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes Façade de la Sainte-Chapelle du Château de Vincennes.jpg, Flamboyant west front of the Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes File:Interior of Sainte Chapelle, Vincennes 140308 1.jpg, Interior of the Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes The Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes, the royal chapel of the residence, was built on the model of the Sainte Chapelle of the Palais de la Cité in Paris, though the plan was modified to have a single level, rather than two. Work began under Charles V of France in 1379, at the end of his reign. The exterior and interior sculpture was largely finished between 1390 and 1410. The west front was finished last; work was resumed in 1520, and it was inaugurated by

in 1552. The west front is a good example of the late Gothic

style, with three gabled arches one atop the other, framing and echoing the elaborate curling designs of the rose window. The stained glass windows of the interior reflected the changing style; the windows of the choir were Rayonnant Gothic, while those of the nave were

. The Chapel suffered particularly from the vandalism of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

. Most all of the stained glass and the sculpture on tympanum and portals was smashed, but a few notable examples of 15th century sculpture survived, notably a sculpture of the Holy Trinity in the upper arches over the west portal. The outside walls are supported by enormous buttresses between the windows, each crowned by an ornate spire, giving them additional weight. File:Intérieur Sainte Chapelle Château Vincennes - Vincennes (FR94) - 2020-10-10 - 11.jpg, Stained glass windows of the apse File:Vincennes (94), château, sainte-chapelle, clé de voûte de la 3e travée.jpg, Keystone of a vault with initials of Henry II and Catherine de Médicis File:Vincennes (94) Château Sainte-Chapelle Culot 06.JPG, Sculpted

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...

in the chapel The nave and choir of the interior form a single vessel with five traverses. The oratories of the King and Queen are placed just before the choir. The summit of the vaults, where the ribs meet, are decorated with ornamental keystones, some with the coats-of-arms of Isabeau of Bavaria and Charles V of France. The painted decoration on some of the later vaults displays the H of

and a K for Catherine de Medici. The stained glass windows of the nave were installed between 1556 and 1559. Those in the nave were almost entirely destroyed in the French Revolution; only drawings remain.Some of the windows of the apse did survive. They illustrate the Apocalypse as recounted in the Gospel of Saint John. They were substantially restored in the 19th century under Louis Napoleon and again the 20th century.

The Pavilions of the King and Queen

File:Pavillon du roi du chateau de vincennes 01.JPG, Pavilion of the King File:Vincennes Château de Vincennes Pavillon de la Reine.jpg, Pavilion of the Queen Louis XIII built the King's pavilion between in the southwest corner between 1610 and 1617 near the beginning of his reign. Only the west facade of this building is still visible. In 1654–58, the royal architect Louis Le Vau enlarged the building surrounding the old structure with a new structure, in the French classical style. The new building has the same length as the old pavilion, but is twice as wide. The Pavilion of the Queen was built between 1658 and 1660, following the same basic design. The Pavilion of the King, three stories high, was built at the edge of a garden. The apartment of the King had five rooms, located on the first floor, looking west over the garden. The Queen's apartment in her pavilion followed the same plan, overlooking the courtyard. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the interiors fell into disrepair, then were almost totally destroyed, with the exception of some portions of the painted ceilings; the Germans had stored explosives in the two pavilions, and these exploded in fires set by the departing occupiers in August 1944. File:Salle Louis XIV 3059.JPG, The Louis XIV Reading Room in the Pavilion of the King File:Chambre Vincennes (Louvre) plafond.jpg, Ceiling from the Pavilion of the King, now in the Egyptian collection of the Louvre Museum, room 639 File:Chambre Vincennes (Louvre) 2.jpg, Ceiling from Pavilion of the King, now in the Egyptian collection, Room 639 of the Louvre Museum Fortunately, some portions of the painted and sculpted ceilings of the royal pavilions were saved in the 19th century; King Louis Philippe had a ceiling dismantled and transported from Vincennes to the Louvre Museum, where it was installed in room 639, a display of Egyptian Antiquities, where it can be seen today.

Sources

Bibliography

* * Frank McCormick, "John Vanbrugh's Architecture: Some Sources of His Style" ''The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians'' 46.2 (June 1987) pp. 135–144. *

Jean Mesqui Jean Mesqui, (born 27 May 1952 in Paris) is an engineer, researcher in castle studies, and specialist in the bridges of France. Biography Jean Antoine Marie Joseph Mesqui was born on 27 May 1952, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. He studi ...

, ''Châteaux forts et fortifications en France'' (Paris: Flammarion, 1997)

Gallery

File:Sainte Chapelle Vincennes 2014 ext.jpg, The chapel, one of

Le Vau Louis Le Vau (1612 – 11 October 1670) was a French Baroque architect, who worked for Louis XIV of France. He was an architect that helped develop the French Classical style in the 17th Century.''Encyclopedia of World Biography''"Louis Le Vau", ...

's isolated ranges, and the queen's pavilion at the right File:Chateau de Vincennes (pixinn.net).jpg, Northern wall and main entrance to the castle. File:Entrée du chateau de vincennes.jpg, South entry to the Chateau File:94 Château de Vincennes -enceinte et douves.jpg, Another view of the moat File:Chateau de Vincennes.jpg, A view of the top of the keep File:Sainte Chapelle, Vincennes, South-West View 140308 1.jpg, Southwest view of the Sainte-Chapelle File:Vincennes - Tour du village - PA00079920 - 012.jpg, North entry to the Chateau

External links

Website of the Château

Château de Vincennes
– The official website of France (in English)
Information on structurae.de

French web site about history of Castle of Vincennes, with many illustrations.
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vincennes, Chateau de Buildings and structures completed in 1410 Houses completed in the 15th century Castles in Île-de-France Palaces in France Royal residences in France Monuments historiques of Île-de-France Historic house museums in Île-de-France Museums in Val-de-Marne Monuments of the Centre des monuments nationaux