FONTAINEBLEU

The castle of Fontainebleau: a palace on the size of the largest sovereigns of France
At the heart of a legendary forest, the castle of fontainbleau, by its gardens invites to an astonishing walk through time
DURING eight centuries, Fontainebleau sheltered the largest sovereigns of France, from François the first to Napoleon the third, accomodating the returns of royal huntings, the balls and the sumptuous festivals, the marriages and the births, the state or intimate talks, the dramas like the greatest joys. At each season, it is all the court which returned, in the noise of the shoes on the sandstone paving stones, of the refined crews and heavy carriages intended for the eternal building site. The courts of the castle resounded a long time of all this crash and the tools tinkled on the stone while rose the monumental staircases, the worked roofs, the houses, and the majestic gates...
The first traces of the history of the castle go up to 1137, but the true birth of Fontainebleau takes place in the first half of XVIth century, when François decides to build a residence on the basis of dilapidated medieval castle. Great admiror of the Italian Renaissance, it calls upon two Italian artists, the Primatice and Rosso, and creates the "first school of Fontainebleau": Henri II, son of François , continued to arrange and to embellish the castle and particularly sticks to finish the Ballroom.
Henri IV and his wife loved the field and undertook great work there, new constructions and decorations carried out by the painters Dubreuil, Dubois and Fréminet who will create the Second School of Fontainebleau :
Louis XIV made many stays there, organizing great huntings and sumptuous receptions. Louis XV then Louis XVI are at the origin of new important work, it is then the favorite residence of hunting and of pleasure close to Paris.After the Revolution, Napoleon the 1st completely found a castle emptied of its pieces of furniture but intact. It gives again life to the castle and settles there with his court. It is here that the Emperor spends his last days before his abdication in 1814. At the XIXth century, Louis-Philippe will be the first sovereign to decide a complete restoration of the palace; the decorations of the Renaissance are restored, public prosecutor's office and ceilings are created, respecting the style of the time. Napoleon III continues work of restoration and built the wing Louis XV while the Eugenie empress arranges new living rooms and a Chinese museum.

TO VISIT
The VISIT of the castle allows to traverse the styles and the centuries through the many installations wanted by the successive sovereigns.
• Audio guides are available in 3 languages
•Intended for the children, the booklet-plays are offered, follow the traces of "Napoleon" in Fontainebleau "or to understand the role and the place which" the Ladies of Fontainebleau ", but also to discover the gardens of the castle thanks to a new booklet.
Visits to thematic conferences are proposed at certain periods of the year and makes it possible to discover the castle under various aspects. The small apartments, the Chinese museum of the Eugenie Empress and the Napoleon1st museum are opened intermittently (to get information before your visit).

OUDRY EXHIBITION
FROM OCTOBER 8, 2003 to January 6, 2004, an exhibition devoted to the scenes of hunting and the animals of Jean Baptist Oudry (1686 - 1755) points out the passion of the hunting which the sovereigns shared when they came to Fontainebleau. The castle is all the days except Tuesday, January 1, the 1st of May and on December 25 from 9.30 to 17 (18 from June to September)

COURT SIDE, GARDENS SIDE
- COURTS, PARK AND GARDENS present another facet of the art of living AT the castle of Fontainebleau. Gardens with the French style imagined by Nôtre, landscaped garden, garden of Diane, court of the Fountain, court of the Good-byes... are open all the year to the public. A labyrinth of boxwood, walks in the boat on the Pond in Carps, a discovery of the park in the barouche, make of it an idyllic place for the family walks.
CONCERTS PRO QUARTET
For the 6TH consecutive year, ProQuartet organizes one season of concerts at the castle of Fontainebleau.
This association, created in 1987 for the promotion of the string quartet and the music chamber, largely took part in the revival of the music chamber in France and supported the emergence of a new generation of musicians through the installation of the first structures of vocational higher training. The European Center of music Chamber will settle in the heart of the National Field of the Castle of Fontainebleau, in the district Henri IV, when this one is refitted.