Galerie d'Orléans, Long gallery in Palais-Royal, Paris, France.
The Galerie d'Orléans is a long passage in the Palais-Royal connecting the courtyard to the garden, stretching 66 meters with a width of 21.8 meters. Doric columns line the walkway and support a horizontal architectural band that defines the space.
Built between 1829 and 1831 by architects Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine, it replaced an earlier wooden structure that had existed since 1786. It was created as part of the Palais-Royal's redesign during the 19th century.
The gallery is named after the Duke of Orléans, later King Louis-Philippe I, who commissioned it. Since 1985 the courtyard has held the fountains of Belgian sculptor Pol Bury. From January 2012 to March 2013 a wooden 750-seat Théâtre Éphémère, designed by Alain-Charles Perrot, stood inside it during work on the Comédie-Française.
Since the glass roof was removed in 1935, the Galerie d'Orléans is an open courtyard, so there is no shelter overhead. It lies between the Cour d'Honneur to the south and the Palais-Royal garden to the north; the Péristyle de Valois leads east to the Rue de Valois and the Péristyle de Montpensier west to the Rue de Montpensier. The ground is paved and level throughout.
The original 19th-century glass roof had a span of roughly 8.5 meters but was removed in 1935 and never rebuilt. This change altered the light and feel of the passage in a permanent way.
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