Château de Chantilly

About this place

The Château de Chantilly is a historic château in the town of Chantilly in the Oise department of northern France, about 39 km north of Paris in a straight line. It has two attached buildings: the Petit Château, built around 1560 for Anne de Montmorency, and the Grand Château, destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt between 1875 and 1882. It belongs to the Institut de France, which received it from Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale, and it is open to the public. It houses the Musée Condé, one of the finest collections of paintings in France, specialising in French painting and illuminated manuscripts of the 15th and 16th centuries. A play by Molière had its first performance here in 1659. With its round towers, pointed grey roofs and pale stone facades, the château stands in a wide lake and is mirrored in the water as if floating. A large park surrounds it, with formal French gardens, pools and fountains, and the huge Great Stables building stands nearby. Visitors tour the château's rooms and museum, stroll the gardens and park on foot or by small boat on the canals, and some visit the Great Stables and the horse museum inside. The château makes an easy day trip from Paris by train.