Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Royal château in the Yvelines, France
The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a former royal palace of tan and pale grey stone, its long facade banded with rows of arched windows between pilasters and a balustraded gallery along the upper level. A rounded tower with a balustrade and pinnacles marks the left corner, while a taller open-arched pavilion and a dark domed cupola rise at the right end. Behind it, a 2.4 km stone terrace laid out by Le Nôtre looks over the Seine valley.
Louis VI built a wooden palatium here around 1124; Philippe Auguste added a stone tower and walls, and Charles V rebuilt the keep in the 1360s after the Black Prince burned the castle in 1346. Francis I had Pierre Chambiges rebuild it in the Renaissance style from 1539, and Louis XIV held court here before moving to Versailles in 1682.
The archaeology museum housed inside displays objects that tell the story of humanity, from prehistoric tools and carvings to sculptures from the Iron Age and Gaulish warriors.
You can reach the château by RER train from Paris in under an hour, and the site is open daily except Tuesday, while the park stays open free of charge from morning until evening.
The 2.4 km stone terrace laid out by André Le Nôtre between 1669 and 1673 runs along the château's edge and looks out over the Seine valley as far as Paris. The donjon built under Louis VI is topped by the observatory where Cassini worked.
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