Palace of Fontainebleau

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Beginning as a medieval hunting lodge, François I performed a complete overhaul in the 16th century in an attempt to create a ‘New Rome’. Bringing in the finest artisans of the day, they blended Italian and French styles to create the ‘First School of Fontainebleau’. Over the centuries, the country’s rulers continued to enlarge the palace, right up until Napoleon III, culminating in the 1900 room palace of today, where every inch is richly decorated with wood panelling, gilded stucco, frescoes, tapestries and paintings. The glorious Trinity Chapel hosted Louis XV’s wedding, and Napoléon III’s christening. Napoléon’s wife had four drawing rooms created to house her Asian art collection. There’s even a gilded bedroom created for Marie Antoinette, though she never used it. The various wings created five irregularly shaped courtyards, the oldest of which is the Oval Courtyard where the sole remnant of the original medieval structure can be found.