The Château de Pierrefonds

Description

Built in the 15th century for Louis, Duke of Orléans, from the royal Valois family, and later dismantled in the 17th century by Cardinal Richelieu, the Château de Pierrefonds was saved from ruin in the second half of the 19th century thanks to Napoleon III, who ordered its restoration. The work was entrusted to the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, who implemented his vision and interpretation of civil and military architecture from the Middle Ages. At Pierrefonds, the universality of Viollet-le-Duc's thought and the extent of his talent were showcased: he was both an archaeologist and an architect, a writer and a draftsman, a decorator and an engineer. To understand the reconstruction of the Château de Pierrefonds as a lesson in Gothic architecture in France, combining archaeological restoration and an imaginative vision of the Middle Ages in the 19th century.