The Château de Dampierre () is a

château A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking re ...

in Dampierre-en-Yvelines, in the ''

Vallée de Chevreuse Vallée de Chevreuse (, ''Chevreuse Valley'') is the valley of the Yvette River in the Yvelines and Essonne departments. It encompasses the communes around Chevreuse (Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, Choisel, Dampierre-en-Yvelines, Dampierre, etc.) w ...

'',

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

History

Built by

Jules Hardouin-Mansart Jules Hardouin-Mansart (; 16 April 1646 – 11 May 1708) was a French Baroque architect and builder whose major work included the Place des Victoires (1684–1690); Place Vendôme (1690); the domed chapel of Les Invalides (1690), and the Gra ...

in 1675–1683 for the duc de Chevreuse, Colbert's son-in-law, it is a French Baroque château of medium size. Protected behind fine wrought iron double gates, the main block (''

corps de logis In architecture, a ''corps de logis'' () is the principal or main block, or central building of a mansion, country or manor house, castle, or palace. It contains the rooms of principal business, the state apartments and the ceremonial or formal ...

'') and its outbuildings, linked by balustrades, are ranged symmetrically around a dry paved and gravelled ''

cour d'honneur A court of honor ( ; ) 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 with a fourth side, co ...

''. Behind, the central axis is extended between the former

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

s, now mown hay. The park with formally shaped water was laid out by

André Le Nôtre André Le Nôtre (; 12 March 1613 – 15 September 1700), originally rendered as André Le Nostre, was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France. He was the landscape architect who designed Gardens ...

. There are sumptuous interiors. The small scale (compared to

Vaux-le-Vicomte The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte () or simply Vaux-le-Vicomte is a Baroque French château located in Maincy, near Melun, southeast of Paris in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department of Île-de-France. Built between 1658 and 1661 ...

for example) makes it easier to compare it to the approximately contemporary Het Loo, for

William III of Orange William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702), also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 167 ...

. The ''grande galerie'' was reconstructed for the amateur archaeologist and collector, Honoré Théodoric d'Albert de Luynes, under the direction of antiquarian architect Félix Duban. Sculptor Pierre-Charles Simart contributed Hellenic friezes and reliefs for the project. Ingres' ''Age of Gold'' remains as testament to the abortive project of decorating it in fresco, not Ingres' habitual medium. The park, which lost many trees in the storm of 26 December 1999, offers a formal canal and an eighteenth-century garden folly.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dampierre, Chateau de Baroque buildings in France Châteaux in Yvelines Gardens in Yvelines Historic house museums in Île-de-France Houses completed in 1683 Museums in Yvelines 1683 establishments in France

History

See also

References