The Pavillon de Breteuil is the headquarters of the
International Bureau of Weights and Measures
The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (french: Bureau international des poids et mesures, BIPM) is an intergovernmental organisation, through which its 59 member-states act together on measurement standards in four areas: chemistry, ...
(BIPM). The building lies in the southeastern section of the
Parc de Saint-Cloud
The Parc de Saint-Cloud, officially the ''Domaine National de Saint-Cloud'', is a ''domaine national'' (national estate), located mostly within Saint-Cloud, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, near Paris, France.
The park, which covers , was a nat ...
in
Saint-Cloud
Saint-Cloud () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthiest towns ...
, France, to the west 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. S ...
. It is listed in France as an
historic monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...
.
History
Built overlooking the
River Seine
)
, mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur
, mouth_coordinates =
, mouth_elevation =
, progression =
, river_system = Seine basin
, basin_size =
, tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle
, tributarie ...
by
Thomas Gobert in the parkland surrounding the
Château de Saint-Cloud
The Château de Saint-Cloud was a château in France, built on a site overlooking the Seine at Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine, about west of Paris. On the site of the former palace is the state-owned Parc de Saint-Cloud.
The château was expand ...
, the building was inaugurated by
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Vers ...
in 1672 and first known as the ''Trianon de Saint-Cloud''.
The ''Trianon'' was renamed as the ''Pavillon du Mail'' in 1743 after being slightly modified.
In 1785 the whole of the château estate (the ''Domaine de Saint-Cloud''), including the pavillon, was acquired by
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...
, the queen of
Louis XVI
Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
.
For his part in arranging the acquisition of the pavillon, the queen granted
Louis Auguste Le Tonnelier de Breteuil
Louis Charles Auguste Le Tonnelier, Baron de Breteuil, Baron de Preuilly (7 March 1730 – 2 November 1807) was a French aristocrat, diplomat and statesman. He was the last chief minister of the Bourbon Monarchy, appointed by King Louis XVI ...
the use of the estate, and he made the pavillon his official residence, and it was renamed to the ''Pavillon de Breteuil''.
During 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 considere ...
(1789–99), Breteuil fled from France, and the state took ownership of the pavillon.
Following the revolution, the pavillon was renovated by
Napoleon
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 who ...
, renamed as the ''Pavillon d'Italie''.
Until the fall of Napoleon in 1815, it was used as accommodation for visiting royalty.
Following another restoration started in 1817, the pavillon, now the ''Pavillon de Breteuil'' again, was used as the official residence of a series of officials and dignitaries up until the start of the
Franco-Prussian War (1870–71).
In 1870, as a result of shelling during that war, the château was destroyed and the pavillon was badly damaged.
Usage
In 1875, the ''Diplomatic Conference of the Metre'' in Paris, which had been convened by the French government to try to reach an agreement on international collaboration for the maintenance and development of the
metric system
The metric system is a system of measurement that succeeded the Decimal, decimalised system based on the metre that had been introduced in French Revolution, France in the 1790s. The historical development of these systems culminated in the d ...
, established the
International Committee for Weights and Measures
The General Conference on Weights and Measures (GCWM; french: Conférence générale des poids et mesures, CGPM) is the supreme authority of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), the intergovernmental organization established i ...
(CIPM) to start preliminary work on the formulation of international standards.
To facilitate their work, the French government offered them the use of a site in the ''Domaine de Saint-Cloud'', which included the badly war-damaged Pavillon de Breteuil, which they accepted.
Following an agreement signed on 25 April 1969 between the CIPM and the French government, functional privileges and immunities were granted to the BIPM as an international organisation operating on the site of the Pavillon de Breteuil.
It is the home of the
International Prototype of the Kilogram, which
lost its status as a standard on 20 May 2019.
Since 1900, the building has been listed as part of the ''
Domaine national de Saint-Cloud'' as an
historic monument in France.
References
{{Reflist, refs=
[Rapport fait au nom de la commission des affaires étrangères sur le projet de loi autorisant l’approbation d’un accord relatif au siège du Bureau international des poids et mesures et à ses privilèges et immunités sur le territoire français et sur le projet de loi autorisant l’approbation de l’accord entre le Gouvernement de la République française et le Comité international des poids et mesures portant amendement de l’accord du 25 avril 1969 relatif au siège du Bureau international des poids et mesures et à ses privilèges et immunités sur le territoire français](_blank)
[Loi n°2008-738 du 28 juillet 2008 autorisant l'approbation de l'accord entre le Gouvernement de la République française et le Comité international des poids et mesures portant amendement de l'accord du 25 avril 1969 relatif au siège du Bureau international des poids et mesures et à ses privilèges et immunités sur le territoire français](_blank)
[
{{cite book
, title=Metrology: from Physics Fundamentals to Quality of Life
, editor1=P. Tavella , editor2=M.J.T. Milton , editor3=M. Inguscio
, publisher=IOS Press
, year=2017
, isbn=978-1-61499-817-4
]
[
{{cite book
, title=From Artefacts to Atoms: The BIPM and the Search for Ultimate Measurement Standards
, last=Quinn
, first=Terry
, publisher=Oxford University Press
, year=2012
, isbn=978-0-19-530786-3
]
[
{{cite web
, title=Domaine national de Saint-Cloud (également sur communes de Sèvres, Ville-d'Avray, Marnes-la-Coquette)
, url=https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/merimee/PA00088141
, website=Ministère de la Culture
, language=French
, access-date=8 February 2010
]
[
{{cite web
, title=How to Get to the BIPM
, url=https://www.bipm.org/en/conference-centre/directions/
, website=BIPM
, access-date=8 February 2010
]
External links
BIPM History of the Pavillon de Breteuil
Buildings and structures in Hauts-de-Seine