Luxembourg Palace

Marie de' Medici, the widow of Henry IV, received Louis XIII's care after his passing in 1610. As she rose to popularity, she picked the Duc de Piney, a new hotel particulier owned by François de Luxembourg, now known as the Petit Luxembourg and housing the president of the French Senate. As the interior work went on, Catherine de' Medici moved into her new home in 1625. When her son Louis XIII was in town, the Queen was given exclusive use of the western and easternmost suites in the right wing.

Jean Chalgrin converted the palace into a legislative structure between 1799 and 1805. As per the Luxembourg Palace history, he removed the chapel honoring Marie de Médicis on the corps de logis' garden side in addition to the escalier d'honneur to make room for a Senate Chamber on the second floor. Chalgrin enclosed the terraces on either side to make room for the library. A stunning neoclassical escalier d'honneur with an Ionic column and a barrel-vaulted ceiling replaced the long gallery where Rubens' cycle of paintings had previously been displayed.

The Luxembourg gardens, which are part of the palace, are among Paris's most exquisite. A formal garden and an English garden are part of the 24 hectares of public parkland. An oval pond surrounds the French Gardens, which are set amid gorgeous surroundings. Every year, new themes and flower colors enhance the flowerbeds. A southern-facing experimental orchard replaces the romantic English-style gardens that extend to the west.

One of the park's most well-known features is the Fontaine Medicis, which Salomon de Brosse created in 1634. The majority of the sculpture and decorative components of the fountain were gone by the middle of the 1750s. Indeed, by fastening the fountain's anchoring bolts to the Fontaine de Leda, which was already in place, architect Gisors moved the fountain to its current placement. The area is divided into three alcoves by four columns, one on either side of the Medici coat of arms on the massive façade of the fountain.