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Fontainebleau
The
Château de Fontainebleau, situated 64 km (40 mi)
southeast of Paris in the forest of Fontainebleau, is one of
the largest and most magnificent of the royal residences of
France. The original building, of which very little remains,
was a medieval hunting lodge; the present structure,
comprising five separate groups of buildings, was begun in
1528 during the reign of Francis I. Francis gathered a large
number of French, Italian, and Flemish architects, painters,
and craftspersons to work on the chateau, thus introducing
the styles of the Italian Renaissance to France and forming
what has become known as the school of Fontainebleau. Later
sovereigns, including Henry II, Francis II, Catherine de
Medicis, and Henry IV, enlarged and embellished the
building, which was provided with new furnishings by
Napoleon I after the French Revolution. The spacious gardens
were planned by André de Nôtre, a celebrated
17th-century landscape gardener, during the reign of Louis
XIV.
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