Hôtel de Condé on 1739 Turgot map of Paris - KU 11

The Hôtel de Condé was the main Paris seat of the

princes of Condé The Most Serene House of Bourbon-Condé (), named after Condé-en-Brie now in the Aisne ', was a French princely house and a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon. The name of the house was derived from the title of Prince of Condé (French: ''p ...

, a cadet branch of the

Bourbons The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spani ...

, from 1612 to 1764/70. The hôtel gave its name to the present ''rue de Condé'', on which its forecourt faced. The Théâtre de l'Odéon was constructed in the former gardens of the ''

hôtel particulier An ''hôtel particulier'' () is a grand townhouse, comparable to the British townhouse or mansion. Whereas an ordinary ''maison'' (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a s ...

'' in 1779–82. The Hôtel de Condé comprised almost all the terrain in the

6th arrondissement of Paris The 6th arrondissement of Paris (''VIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ''le sixième''. The arrondissement, called Luxembourg in a reference to the seat o ...

that is now enclosed within rue de Condé, Vaugirard and Monsieur-Le-Prince and the crossroads of the Odéon. The property was first built upon, in a suburban environment beyond the city walls of

Philippe Auguste Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French ...

, by Antoine de Corbie, ''premier président'' of the

Parlement de Paris The Parliament of Paris (french: Parlement de Paris) was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. It was fixed in Paris by Philip IV of France in 1302. The Parliament of Paris would hold sessions inside the ...

. In the reign of Charles IX the property belonged to the naturalized Florentine banker Albert de Gondi, a favourite of the king. In the ruin of Philippe-Emmanuel de Gondi, father of the

Cardinal de Retz Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, t ...

, his hôtel was seized. In 1610,

Marie de Médicis Marie de' Medici (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom ...

gave it to Henri II, Prince of Condé in part recompense for his agreeing to marry

Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency (11 May 1594 – 2 December 1650) was an heiress of one of France's leading ducal families, and Princess de Condé by her marriage to Henri de Bourbon. She almost became a mistress of Henry IV of France, b ...

, a former mistress of

Henri IV 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 monarc ...

. The hôtel was largely reconstructed by its new owner. The Hôtel de Condé formed a vast ensemble of structures, with wings separated by narrow interior courtyards, with awkward intrusions and party walls; however, the main ''

corps de logis In architecture, a ''corps de logis'' () is the principal block of a large, (usually classical), mansion or palace. It contains the principal rooms, state apartments and an entry.Curl, James Stevens (2006). ''Oxford Dictionary of Architecture ...

'' opened upon an extensive

parterre A ''parterre'' is a part of a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of symmetrical patterns, made up by plant beds, low hedges or coloured gravels, which are separated and connected by paths. Typically it was the part of ...

garden in the French manner, separated from the ''

cour d'honneur A ''cour d'honneur'' (; ; german: Ehrenhof) is the principal and formal approach and forecourt of a large building. It is usually defined by two secondary wings projecting forward from the main central block ('' corps de logis''), sometimes w ...

'' by a fine wrought-iron railing. A series of three terraces descended to rue de Vaugirard, facing the

Palais du Luxembourg The Luxembourg Palace (french: Palais du Luxembourg, ) is at 15 Rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It was originally built (1615–1645) to the designs of the French architect Salomon de Brosse to be the royal residence of the ...

. The garden was so spacious that, when it was necessary to close the

Luxembourg Garden The Jardin du Luxembourg (), known in English as the Luxembourg Garden, colloquially referred to as the Jardin du Sénat (Senate Garden), is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. Creation of the garden began in 1612 when Marie de' ...

to the public, the gates of the princely residence could be opened, and the crowd could be admitted without the least encumbrance. Germain Brice, in ''Description nouvelle de la ville de Paris'' (1707) gave an admiring description of the furnishing of the Hôtel de Condé:

"The ceiling of the bedchamber and of the
cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...
of Mme la Princesse have been painted by de Sève... As for furniture, it is difficult to see any in any other palace richer or in greater quantity. One finds here as well pictures by masters of the first rank, among others a ''Baptism of Our Lord'' by Albano... extraordinary
tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...
and hardstone carvings more than in any other place. A numerous library is conserved here as well, composed of curious books and the rarest of hand-drawn maps."

Here, where his mother Marie Éléonore de Maillé de Carman had a suite of rooms, in her place as lady companion to the Princess de Condé, was born the

Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814), was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer famous for his literary depictions of a libertine sexuality as well as numerous accusati ...

. Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé, his mistress, the Princesse of Monaco, and members of the Condé family moved into the

Palais Bourbon The Palais Bourbon () is the meeting place of the National Assembly, the lower legislative chamber of the French Parliament. It is located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, on the '' Rive Gauche'' of the Seine, across from the Place de la Con ...

in 1764, and

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

bought the property and its gardens in 1770. On 26 March 1770, an order in council authorized the execution of the theater project intended for the

Comédie-Française The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...

, designed by

Charles De Wailly Charles de Wailly () (9 November 1730 – 2 November 1798) was a French architect and urbanist, and furniture designer, one of the principals in the Neoclassical revival of the Antique. His major work was the Théâtre de l'Odéon for the Comédi ...

and Marie-Joseph Peyre in the terraces of the garden of the hôtel. Previously, Peyre, in his ''Oeuvres d'architecture'', 1765, illustrated a project, whether executed or not, for a symmetrical staircase in two curving flights placed in the vestibule of the "Hôtel de Condé"; he had exhibited it to the Académie in 1763;Allan Braham, "Charles de Wailly and Early Neo-Classicism", ''The Burlington Magazine'' 114 (October 1972:678 note 34, as "J.-M. Peyre". it may have been intended for the Prince at the Palais Bourbon. In 1778, Louis XVI offered his brother, the

Count of Provence The land of Provence has a history quite separate from that of any of the larger nations of Europe. Its independent existence has its origins in the frontier nature of the dukedom in Merovingian Gaul. In this position, influenced and affected by ...

, the Luxembourg and the hôtel de Condé. In 1779, the division of the site into building lots sparked a vast construction project. comparable to that undertaken by the

Duke of Chartres Originally, the Duchy of Chartres (''duché de Chartres'') was the ''comté'' de Chartres, a County. The title of comte de Chartres thus became duc de Chartres. This duchy– peerage was given by Louis XIV of France to his nephew, Philippe ...

at the

Palais-Royal The Palais-Royal () is a former royal palace located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Cardinal, it was built for Cardinal R ...

. Streets were driven through the terrain, including rue de l'Odéon, (at first called rue du Théâtre-Français) the first street in Paris provided with

sidewalk A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English), footpath in Australia, India, New Zealand and Ireland, or footway, is a path along the side of a street, highway, terminals. Usually constructed of concrete, pavers, brick, stone ...

s, which was opened through the middle of the former Hôtel de Condé at the same time that the new Théâtre-Français opened (1782), after 1807 called the Théâtre de l'Odéon.

Notes

Bibliography

* ''Guides Bleu: Paris'', Hachette, 1988 * Dominique Leborgne, ''Saint-Germain des Prés et son faubourg'', Parigramme, 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hotel De Conde History of Paris Condé Former buildings and structures in Paris