Domaine national du Palais-Royal

Three centuries of architecture. Built for Cardinal Richelieu by French architect Lemercier, who also designed the Sorbonne, the main body (1634), opposite the Louvre, became a royal residence (during the regency of Anne of Austria) and then the seat of the Orléans family from 1661. The palace was completed and modified in the 18th and 19th centuries. The three wings bordering the gardens date from the late 18th century.

An insalubrious past. Today's magnificent monumental surroundings give no hint as to the revolutionary fervour that abounded here in the 18th century, nor of its reputation in the 19th century as a place of promiscuity and women of easy virtue, as immortalised by Balzac.

A popular monument decorated in the antique style so fashionable in the 18th century. This is one of the favourite spots for locals and tourists to come for a stroll. The Comédie-Française and Palais-Royal theatres and the Grand-Véfour restaurant with its listed décor still draw in the crowds. Contemporary art is also well represented by its main courtyard and columns designed by Buren and two mobile fountains by Pol Bury (1985).