Castles, palaces and strongholds

Under the Consulate, French castles, both military and civilian, have recovered with difficulty from the devastation that the Revolution had caused. When they had not been destroyed (the Bastille was not an isolated case) or burnt, these buildings, witnesses of the old regime, had been vandalized, looted, in the best case bought by opportunists who lacked the means to maintain them...

Gradually, what we would call today "the market for real estate" came back to life, facilitated by the institutional stability and the establishment of the Civil Code, enacted March 21, 1804, which defined and ensured the right to property.

Under the Empire, the emergence of a new wealthy class, the creation of the nobility of the Empire and the return of some emigrants have promoted this market, both in new buildings as the old. The princes, dukes, counts, barons that were senior officers, ministers, diplomats, prefects or financial (not forgetting the imperial family) had to hold their rank, and investment real estate was undoubtedly the most visible to the Imperial court.

Meanwhile, military-oriented castles have been maintained and upgraded to meet the war situation the Empire had to face throughout its existence.

What have these buildings become nowadays? According to our travels, we have captured the image of these buildings' current state. Some foreign palaces in connection with the Napoleonic era also appeared worthy of being represented. The list below is to grow as a result of our future trips

This is, two centuries after the Imperial era, to capture the image of these buildings before oblivion, or worse estate developers, do take care to make them disappear forever.

Reception at Malmaison in 1802, oil on canvas by François Flameng

•  AMBOISE (Castle of) - 37400 Amboise [47.41338, 0.98632] - This former estate of the Duke of Choiseul and the Duke of Penthièvre, which had been confiscated by the nation in 1792, was offered by Napoleon to former Consul Roger Ducos. The latter, not having the means to restore all, destroyed much of the building from 1806 to 1810. Later, King Louis-Philippe I will inherit the castle through his mother.  © 2012
•  AUSTERLITZ (Castle of) - 68401 Slavkov u Brna [49.15486, 16.87539] - It was in this Baroque-style castle that Tsar Alexander I and Emperor Francis I spent the night before the Battle of Austerlitz. After the battle, Napoleon set up his headquarters there, and remained there until December 7. On December 3, he made a proclamation to his soldiers from the balcony. On the 6th, the armistice was signed in the great hall of the castle.   © 2014
•  BALAGUIER (Fortress of) - 83500 La Seyne-sur-Mer [43.09440, 5.91076] - This military construction, which had been built under King Louis XIII to complete the protection of the harbor of Toulon, was in British hands since July 1793, the city of Toulon having delivered to them. On December 17 and 18, after a siege of three months, the fort (and the neighboring, the Eguillette stronghold) was the scene of bitter fighting. Afterwards, the soldiers of the French Republic, led by Captain Napoleon Bonaparte, commander of the artillery, took over the city.  © 2011
•  BORGHESE (Villa) - 00100 Roma [41.91405, 12.49199] - Villa Borghese, commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Bourgeois to Flaminio Ponce and Vasanzio and built between 1613 and 1614, became the residence of Pauline Bonaparte after the end of the Empire.  © 2013
•  BOURBON Palace - 75007 Paris [48.86163, 2.31854] - This palace, owned by the Bourbon-Condé family until the French Revolution, became home of the Legislative Assembly under the Consulate and the Empire. Between 1806 and 1810 its north side was modified by architect Bernard Poyet according to Napoleon's orders.  © 2011
•  BRIENNE (Castle of) - 10500 Brienne-le-Château [48.39171, 4.52078] - From 1779 to 1784, the young Bonaparte could see the castle while he was a student at the military school. On April 3, 1805, the Emperor slept there on the way to Italy. On January 29, 1814 he defeated the Allies there during the Campaign of France.  © 2011
•  BUCKINGHAM Palace - London [51.50142, -0.14161] - This palace built in 1703 became the property of King George III in 1761, and his summer residence. The monarch and his wife Queen Charlotte particularly appreciated the place, since fourteen of their fifteen children were born there.  © 2011
•  CHAMBORD (Castle of) - 45630 Chambord [47.61615, 1.51710] - The largest of the Loire castles, built under King Francis I, having became national property during the French Revolution, was offered by the Emperor to Marshal Berthier in 1809, after the victory of Wagram. The latter, however, barely lived there. At the Restoration, the State bought Chambord to his widow after a national subscription, then offered it in October 1820 to Henri d'Artois, the grand-son of future King Charles X, only two months old.  © 2012
•  CHAMPLATREUX (Castle of) - 95270 Epinay-Champlatreux [49.08574, 2.41153] - Family property (since 1567) of Count Mathieu-Louis Molé, French Minister of Justice under Napoleon.  © 2011
•  COMBAULT (Castle of) - 77340 Pontault-Combault [48.80134, 2.60756] - Property of Marshal François-Joseph Lefebvre, Duke of Danzig, who served as Mayor of Combault from 1813 to his death in 1820. This function of Mayor remains related to the memory of the Duke, as Lefebvre's castle is today town hall of Pontault-Combault.  © 2011
•  COMBOURG (Castle of) - 35270 Combourg [48.40764, -1.75368] - François-René de Chateaubriand spent part of his childhood in this Breton fortress built between the 12th and 15th centuries and acquired by his father, as he recounted in his Memoirs. The castle was extensively remodeled in the second half of the 19th century..  © 2011
•  COMPIEGNE (Imperial Palace of) - 60200 Compiègne [49.41850, 2.83039] - From June to September 1808, Napoleon made stay there King Charles IV of Spain, who had just abdicated. On March 27, 1810, he received Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria for their first meeting. The imperial couple and the court returned there after the marriage, then the following year.   © 2011
•  COPPET (Castle of) - 1296 Coppet, Canton of Vaud [46.31693, 6.19160] - Property of Jacques Necker who acquired it in 1784. His daughter, famous writer Madame de Staël, exiled from France under the Empire, received at Coppet many intellectuals from all over Europe, been known today under the term "group of Coppet".  © 2011
•  COUDREAUX (Castle of LES-) - 28200 Marboué [48.13228, 1.34255] - In 1808, this mansion was acquired by Michel Ney, Marshal of the Empire, future Prince of the Moskowa. The "Brave among braves" stayed there for nearly seven years, when having leisure between military campaigns. In 1825, the Coudreaux will become the property of General Honoré Charles Reille.  © 2012
•  COURCELLES-LE-ROI (Castle of) - 45630 Beaulieu-sur-Loire [47.55383, 2.76039] - Marshal Etienne Jacques Macdonald, Duke of Taranto, died on September 25, 1840 in this castle of Renaissance style, that he had bought during his disgrace in 1804.  © 2012
•  COURSON (Castle of) - 91680 Courson-Monteloup [48.60016, 2.14772] - In 1812, General Jean-Thomas Arrighi de Casanova, Duke of Padua, became the owner of this castle through his marriage to Anne Rose Zoe, daughter of Henry de Montesquiou.  © 2012
•  ELYSEE Palace - 75008 Paris [48.87039, 2.31677] - Marshal Joachim Murat acquired this palace in August 1805 for 570,000 francs. He got it renovated by architects Barthélémy Vignon and Jean Thomas Thibault, then settled there with his wife Caroline Bonaparte. Appointed King of Naples  in July 1808, he sold the palace to the State. Napoleon resided in it from time to time with Josephine then Marie-Louise until 1814. The Emperor stayed there one last time from June 21 to June 25, 1815.  © 2011
•  FINCKENSTEIN (Castle of) - 64-061 Kamieniec [53.76754, 19.37375] - This baroque castle, which was unfortunately burned down in January 1945 by the Soviet hordes, is undoubtedly the place where Napoleon lived his happiest days. He resided there with his Polish mistress Maria Walewska from April to June 1807, during the War of the Fourth Coalition. It was also his headquarters, where he received an audience with Gebhard von Blücher on April 22, and signed the Treaty of Finckenstein between France and Persia on May 4.  © 2015
•  FONTAINEBLEAU (Castle of) - 77300 Fontainebleau [48.40210, 2.69906] - Napoleon regularly came to this castle that he enjoyed the highest degree. He received there Pope Pius VII in November 1804 before his coronation (and later kept him at Fontainebleau as a prisoner from June 1812 to January 1814!), or King Charles IV of Spain in May 1808. He signed his abdication on April 6, 1814 in this castle, and bid farewell to his Guard on April 20.  © 2011
•  GRANGE-LA PRÉVÔTÉ (Castle of LA-) - 77176 Savigny-le-Temple [48.59970, 2.55821] - Property of Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte and his wife Desiree Clary, who changed the castle and beautified the park. When the Prince of Ponte Corvo became crown prince of Sweden and intended, early 1813, to participate in the sixth coalition that would fall into place against the Empire, he sold the whole property to his brother-in-law Count Nicolas Clary.  © 2012
•  GRIGNON (Castle of) - 78850 Thiverval-Grignon [48.84773, 1.93952] - In 1803, General Jean-Baptiste Bessieres bought from General Michel Ney's stepfather this castle of the seventeenth century, brick with quoins white limestone. After the death of Marshal Bessieres in 1809, Napoleon purchased the estate to help his young widow, and came here several times to hunt the wolf.  © 2011
•  GROSBOIS (Castle of) - 94470 Boissy-Saint Léger [48.73539, 2.52764] - This elegant castle, completed in 1640, with its two advanced wings in the style of Louis XIII flanking the main courtyard and surrounded by dry moat, became property of Paul Barras from 1797 to his departure for Brussels after 18 Brumaire. General Jean Victor Marie Moreau purchased it, but was also exiled in 1804. Then the castle has belonged to Minister Joseph Fouché, then to Napoleon himself, who finally gave it to Marshal Louis-Alexandre Berthier in 1805. The latter held magnificent parties and has been resident there until the beginning of the Hundred Days and his departure with King Louis XVIII.  © 2011
•  HOFBURG Palace - Vienna [48.20564, 16.36462] - The Hofburg, which has more than 2,600 rooms spread over 18 wings, was the winter residence of the Habsburg-Lorraine family, and thus that of Emperor Francis II of the Holy Roman Empire, later of the same person under the name of Francis I of Austria. In March 1810, the marriage of Archduchess Marie-Louise and Napoleon (represented by Louis-Alexandre Berthier, Prince of Wagram) was celebrated within its walls. As an ally, Emperor Alexander I of Russia was housed there during the Congress of Vienna.   © 2009
•  HOUSSAYE (Castle of LA-) - 77610 La Houssaye-en-Brie [48.75320, 2.87202] - This castle, with two lofts and a dungeon slashed stone, completely surrounded by ditches, was acquired in April 1801 by General Charles-Pierre-François Augereau. The latter, became Marshal of the Empire and Duke of Castiglione, kept the castle to his death, which occured within its walls in 1816, and bequeathed it to his widow.  © 2011
•  JABŁONNA (Palace of) - 05-110 Jabłonna [52.37478, 20.91415] - Prince Józef Antoni Poniatowski inherited this castle in 1794, and moved there from 1798 with his companion Henriette de Barbantane, Countess of Vauban, alternating with his residence in Warsaw.  © 2015
•  JOUX (Fortress of) - 25300 La Cluse-et-Mijoux [46.87216, 6.37492] - This stronghold, overlooking the gorge of Pontarlier and commanding the shift to Switzerland, already was a state prison under the old regime. In August 1802 it became the place of internment of François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, who died there on April 7, 1803.  © 2011
•  JULHANS (Castle of) - 13830 Roquefort-la-Bédoule [43.25780, 5.65022] - The wealthy Marseille merchant François Clary, who acquired this château during the Revolution, had two pretty daughters named Julie-Marie and Désirée. In 1794, two young officers stationed at Cuges-les-Pins regularly visited the château and courted the young ladies. Joseph eventually married Julie, and Napoleon became engaged to Désirée, before breaking up to marry Joséphine de Beauharnais.   © 2025
•  LA BARBEN (Castle of) - 13330 La Barben [43.62765, 5.20581] - Within the walls of this castle in Provence, Princess Pauline Borghese (Napoleon's sister) lived from 1805 to 1807 tumultuous love affairs with his chamberlain Louis Nicolas Philippe Auguste de Forbin, owner of the place.  © 2011
•  LAEKEN (Palace of) - 1020 Bruxelles [50.88651, 4.35970] - First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte stayed with his wife Joséphine de Beauharnais in this castle north of Brussels from 21 to 30 July 1803, and purchased it. Later the Emperor, accompanied by Empress Marie-Louise, stayed there from 14 to 17 May 1810. In 1812, he offered the castle to Joséphine, as compensation for the Élysée Palace, which she was then occupying and which he wanted to reclaim; however, she never visited.  © 2013 Ugo Valfer
•  LAMASSAS (Castle of) - 47340 Hautefage-la-Tour [44.33721, 0.76247]- Jean-Girard Lacuée, later Count of Cessac and Administration Minister of war, was born in 1752 in this family castle, built in the early eighteenth century. There, he spent his childhood and took refuge during the French Revolution.  © 2012
•  LESEGNO (Castle of) - 12076 Lesegno CN [44.40169, 7.96369] - It was this castle that General Napoleon Bonaparte chose as his headquarters on April 20, 1796, after he had just inaugurated the Italian campaign with the victory of Montenotte a few days earlier. The building, ideally located overlooking the valley leading to San Michele Mondovì and Vicoforte, retained this function until April 23, during all the operations of the Battle of Mondovì.  © 2012
•  LOUVRE Palace - 75001 Paris [48.86036, 2.33868]- The largest palace in Europe, royal residence under the Old Regime but abandoned in favor of Versailles, had been declared national museum during the French Revolution. The First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte made of it the most prestigious museum in the world by the magnitude and quality of the collections, made by the former royal collections, the seized property to the Church and the emigrants, and the spoils of wars carried out in Italy, Belgium, Prussia and Austria. He named Dominique Vivant Denon as Director General.  © 2011
•  LUXEMBOURG Palace - 75006 Paris [48.84790, 2.33730] - This palace, built from 1615 at the request of Marie de Medicis, was assigned in 1795 to the Directory (Executive government of the First French Republic) then, in late 1799, to the Conservative Senate. This assembly ensured the constitutionality of laws during the Consulate and the Empire.  © 2012
•  MAISONS (Castle of) - 78600 Maisons-Laffitte [48.94723, 2.15375] - Attributed to the architect François Mansart, completed in 1651, the castle was acquired in 1804 by Marshal Jean Lannes, future Duke of Montebello. Until his death in 1809, he liked to come to rest between two military campaigns with his wife Louise and their five children. His widow sold the estate in 1818 to the banker Jacques Laffitte.  © 2011
•  MALMAISON (Castle of) - 92500 Rueil-Malmaison [48.87087, 2.16703] - Josephine de Beauharnais purchased this castle in April 1799. The building was redeveloped by famous architects Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Leonard Fontaine. During the Consulate, Napoleon Bonaparte often stayed there, deciding the Louisiana Purchase and the institution of the Legion of Honor. Josephine retired at Malmaison after her divorce in 1809, and died there on May 29, 1814.  © 2009 Cyril Maillet
•  MANTUA (Ducal Palace of) - 46100 Mantova MN [45.16006, 10.79733] - At the end of the first Italian Campaign, General Napoleon Bonaparte set up his headquarters at the Ducal Palace from March 1 to 8, 1797.   © 2013
•  MARLIA (Villa Reale di) - 55012 Capannori LU [43.90007, 10.55600] - When she became Princess of Lucca and Piombino, Elisa Bonaparte acquired Villa Orsetti, as well as the adjoining Villa del Vescovo. She had the two parks combined and redesigned, commissioned the architects Giovanni Lazzarini and Pierre-Théodore Bienaimé to renovate the building, and established her court there. Important guests stayed there, such as Klemens von Metternich and the musician Niccolo Paganini. Villa Marlia was also the site of Elisa's love affair with the Grand Equerry Bartolomeo Cenami.  © 2012
•  MARMOUSETS (Castle of) - 94510 La Queue-en-Brie [48.76729, 2.58776] - This elegant building features a horizontal order with a slight indentation on both wings and repeated ribbed pilasters. Two Ionic columns support an overhanging balcony, which is topped by an attic with arched pediment and carved two figures of angels. It was acquired in the early nineteenth century by Jean-Baptiste de Nompère de Champagny, Duke of Cadore, then became the property of General Pierre-Augustin Hulin.  © 2012
•  MARRACQ (Castle of) - 64100 Bayonne [43.47988, -1.48369] - Napoleon I, after purchasing it in 1808, made this castle one of his imperial palaces, and stayed there several times. It was here that the Abdication of the Bourbons of Spain was signed in April 1808 in his favor, which led to his brother Joseph being installed on the throne. The castle was destroyed by fire in 1825.   © 2017
•  MENARS (Castle of) - 41500 Menars [47.63893, 1.41034] - This building of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, overlooking the Loire, was acquired in 1804 by Claude-Victor Perrin, Marshal of the Empire, future Duke of Belluno. Became War Minister of King Louis XVIII, Marshal Victor will give lavish festivities at Menars.  © 2012
•  MESNIL-VERCLIVES (Castle of) - 27440 Mesnil-Verclives [49.31927, 1.46887] - This castle, built in the eighteenth century, became after the French Revolution the property of Baron Louis Bignon, diplomat and future author of a History of France under Napoleon. He adapted the hamlet's church and school, and built the town hall in the gardens of the old rectory.  © 2012
•  MIRAMBEAU - (Castle of) - 17150 Mirambeau [45.37533, -0.56584] - This beautiful castle in Saintonge, from the Renaissance period, was acquired in late July 1813 by Count Charles Duchatel, Director General of Administration of the Registration and Domains. The following years, his wife Adele Marie Antoinette, born Papin, former mistress of Napoleon, actively participated in the monitoring of its restoration and beautification.  © 2012
•  MONCEY (Castle of) - 25870 Moncey [47.36308, 6.11964] - Property of Bon-Adrien Jannot of Moncey in his native village. Then a lieutenant, he had bought this rural castle in 1789 from the Marquis of Cheyland.  © 2011
•  MONTALIVET (Castle of) - 26120 Montmeyran [44.84622, 4.95897] - The young Napoleon Bonaparte, then assigned to the regiment of La Fere, in Valence, was often received during the year 1791 in this family estate of his friend Jean-Pierre Bachasson de Montalivet, future mayor of Valence, prefect, Count of the Empire and Minister of the Interior.  © 2011
•  MONTALIVET-LAGRANGE (Castle of) - 18300 Saint-Bouize [47.27214, 2.900541] - This castle of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, combining stone and red brick, was acquired in 1807 by Count Jean-Pierre Bachasson de Montalivet, Interior Minister. He restored it after the fall of Napoleon, then lived and died here in 1831.  © 2012
•  MONTGOBERT (Castle of) - 02600 Montgobert [49.30972, 3.14435] - This former residence of Marshal de Joyeuse, on the edge of the Retz forest, in Valois, was acquired in 1798 by Pauline Bonaparte and her husband General Charles Victor Emmanuel Leclerc. It was later bought by Marshal Davoust, then by alliances and successions became the property of the Suchet d'Albufera family.  © 2012
•  MONTHORIN (Castle of) - 35420 Louvigné-du-Désert [48.47322, -1.13514] - It's in 1807 that General Jean-Ambroise Baston de Lariboisière acquired this castle, near his home town of Fougères in Brittany, and – as it should – the area around it. His family was buried in a private chapel on the edge of a pond; the chapel also houses the heart of the brave General.  © 2011
•  MONZA (Villa Reale di) - 20900 Monza MB [45.59352, 9.27458] - Eugene de Beauharnais, appointed Viceroy of Italy in 1805, established his main residence in this palace, built between 1777 and 1780 to a design by the architect Giuseppe Piermarini, which on this occasion took the name "Villa Reale". Eugene's architect Luigi Canonica made improvements, and the gardens were enlarged to 750 hectares.  © 2012
•  MORTEFONTAINE (Castle of) - 60128 Mortefontaine [49.11013, 2.60342] - Property of Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's elder brother, since 1798. Here was signed in 1800 the treaty of friendship between France and the United States of America, said Treaty of Mortefontaine, and were negotiated the preliminaries of the Peace of Amiens on March 25, 1802. At Mortefontaine were also celebrated the weddings of Joachim Murat and Caroline Bonaparte on January 20, 1800 and of Camillo Borghese and Pauline Bonaparte on November 5, 1803.  © 2011
•  MUETTE (Pavillon de la) - 78100 Saint-Germain-en-Laye [48.96413, 2.11757] - This hunting lodge, built for King Louis XV on the ruins of a 16th-century castle, was Napoleon's hunting ground from the time of his Consulate. After his divorce from Josephine, he had a bedroom added on the first floor, as well as another for Empress Marie-Louise.  © 2025
•  MUSIGNANO (Castle of) - 01011 Canino VT [42.433377, 11.72101] - This residence, acquired by Lucien Bonaparte from the Church in 1808 along with the surrounding land, saw him settle there until 1810, then permanently after the fall of the French Empire.  © 2013
•  NAPLES (Royal Palace of) - 80100 Napoli [40.83610, 14.24923] - This early 17th-century palace, the residence of the Bourbons ruling the Two Sicilies, became the residence of Joseph Bonaparte in 1806, and then two years later of Joachim Murat. Murat and his wife Caroline Bonaparte then enriched it with neoclassical decorations and furnishings from Paris' Tuileries Palace.   © 2013
•  NOYERS (Castle of) - 27720 Noyers [49.24215, 1.68017] - Property of  François de Barbé-Marbois, Minister of the Treasury and first Chaiman of the "Cour des Comptes" (Court of Audit of France); the latter was buried in a small cemetery near the castle.  © 2012
•  OSLO (Royal Palace of) - Oslo [59.91695, 10.72801] - This palace was ordered from its inception by the new King of Norway Charles III (also known as Charles XIV John of Sweden), former Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, who chose the site in 1821 and laid the foundation stone in 1825. The main courtyard features an equestrian statue of the monarch.  © 2010
•  PÉRIGNON (Castle of) - 82700 Finhan [43.91556, 1.22268] - This castle was remodeled and enlarged in 1750 by the family of the future Marshal Catherine-Dominique de Pérignon, a native of Montech, a few leagues away. Two towers have been added especially during this extension.  © 2012
•  PIPLE (Castle of) - 94470 Boissy Saint-Léger [48.75599, 2.51740] - Ownership of a treasurer of the Highways during the Old Regime, this castle was acquired in 1803 by Joseph Antoine Boulay de la Meurthe. From 1812 to 1814 Charles Louis Schulmeister, the famous "spy of Napoleon" lived here. He sold it in 1819 to Baron Jean-Conrad Hottinger, a banker.  © 2012
•  PISCINE (Castle of LA-) - 34000 Montpellier [43.61230, 3.84138] - This "madness" (as well call themselves the pleasure houses built under the old regime by the nobility and the wealthy bourgeoisie of Montpellier), completed in 1771, hosted in 1814 the Princess Elisa Baciocchi, born Bonaparte, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, which rented the castle for three weeks after having fled Italy.  © 2011
•  RASTATT (Schloss) - 76437 Rastatt [48.85894, 8.20544] - It was in this castle, built in 1700 by the Italian architect Domenico Egidio Rossi for Margrave Louis-Guillaume of Baden, that a peace congress was held from September 1797 to April 1799 to settle German affairs after the cession of the left bank of the Rhine to France. Napoleon Bonaparte only made a brief stay there for five days, from November 27 to December 1, 1797.  © 2024
•  REGAGNAC (Castle of) - 24440 Montferrand du Périgord [44.77086, 0.89561] - This castle in the heart of Périgord was acquired in 1816 by Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout.  © 2012
•  REVERSEAUX (Castle of) - 28150 Rouvray-Saint-Florentin [48.26800, 1.56592] - Property of Marshal Laurent de Gouvion-Saint-Cyr since 1807, this castle built around 1720 became his retreat from autumn 1819 until his death in 1830.  © 2012
•  ROYAL Palace - 75001 Paris [48.86361, 2.33700] - This palace, built from 1622 at the request of Cardinal Richelieu, owned by the Bourbon-Orleans from 1661 to 1793, has been hosting the Tribunat under the Consulate and the Empire, until the abolition of this chamber in September 1807.  © 2011
•  SAINT-DREZERY (Castle of) - 34160 Saint Drezery [43.73408, 3.98162] - In 1791 Jean-Jacques Regis de Cambaceres acquired for 50 000 pounds this area, sold as national property by the municipality of Montpellier (himself being vice president of the council, he had to use a "straw man"). The Duke of Parma, became Duke of Cambaceres, bequeathed at his death the castle to the Cathedral of Montpellier.  © 2011
•  SAINT-JOSEPH (Castle of) - 13014 Marseille [43.34522, 5.37990] - Purchased in April 1800 by Ignace d'Anthoine, husband of Rose Clary (the sister of Desirée and Julie Clary). In the castle the King Charles IV of Spain, forced into exile by the Emperor, stayed three days in 1808 and Marshal Louis-Gabriel Suchet, stepson of the owner, died in 1826.  © 2009
•  SAINT-JUST (Castle of) - 27950 Saint-Just [49.11078, 1.43177] - In 1805, Victor Fanneau of Horie, owner since 1798, sold this castle to Sir Suchet, who resold it to his brother, the future Marshal and Duke of Albufera. The latter planted its alley with poplars in 1810, then from 1816, undertook major operations: distribution and decor of the ground floor of the castle by architect Lacornée, refurnishing with Empire period furnitures, new design of the park.  © 2012
•  SAINT-JUST-SAUVAGE (Castle of) - 51260 Saint-Just-Sauvage [48.55269, 3.78352] - It belonged to Marshal Guillaume Brune from June 1797 to his assassination on August 2, 1815, then to his widow who organized the repatriation of the Marshal's body and kept it in the castle until her own death in 1829.  © 2011
•  SALÉ (Castle) - 06600 Antibes [43.58504, 7.11222] - In February 1794, Napoleon Bonaparte was confirmed in his rank of brigadier general and assigned to command the artillery of the Army of Italy, at the headquarters in Nice. He requisitioned this château on the hills above Antibes for his personal use, and brought his mother, his three sisters, and his younger brothers, Louis and Jérôme, there.  © 2012
•  SAVIGNY (Castle of) - 91600 Savigny-sur-Orge [48.67454, 2.35413] - Location of a secret love affair between Pauline de Beaumont and François-René de Chateaubriand at the turn of the century, the castle became in August 1802 the property of General Louis-Nicolas Davout. He made the following years many improvements and extensions (the park will have more than 450 hectares). The Prince of Eckmühl, became Mayor of the town, added a built aviary where he liked to give a mouthful to partridges ... The Marshal's widow stayed at Savigny's Castle until his death in 1868.  © 2011
•  SCHÖNBRUNN (Imperial Palace of) - Vienna [48.18465, 16.31215] - Summer residence of the Habsburg, ruling family of the Holy Roman Empire and of Austria, the palace was built to "compete" that of Versailles, and was also surrounded by magnificent French gardens. It saw to stay within its walls Napoleon I in November 1805 and May 1809, following his successful campaigns, and to grow the future Empress Marie-Louise. On July 22, 1832, their son the Duke of Reichstadt succumbed at Schönbrunn in the arms of his mother.   © 2009 Floriane Grau
•  SOULT-BERG (Castle of) - 81240 Saint-Amans-Soult [43.47259, 2.49376] - Built upon order of Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult, Duke of Dalmatia, in his native town. The name of the castle combines the name of the marshal and that of his wife, born Berg, but also alludes to the fact that it was built atop a hill.  © 2011
•  STOCKHOLM (Royal Palace of) - Stockholm [59.32652, 18.07070] - From 1810, former French Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was "at home" in this palace as Crown Prince of Sweden, then in 1818 as King Charles XIV John. The palace, one of the largest in the world still "in service", counts no less than 1430 rooms.  © 2010
•  STUPINIGI (Palazzina di caccia di) - 10042 Stupinigi, Nichelino TO [44.99521, 7.60459] - Napoleon stayed in this hunting palace near Turin on numerous occasions.  © 2013
•  TERRASSE (Castle of LA-) - 93390 Clichy-sous-Bois [48.91116, 2.54941] - Owned by Marshal François Etienne Christophe Kellermann during French First Empire, the castle was since that era dismantled and reworked many times. Still stands up, among others, the hunting lodge visible in the photograph.  © 2011
•  VALENÇAY (Castle of) - 36600 Valençay [47.15795, 1.56326] - Property of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, who bought it in 1803 to Count Luçay for 1.6 million francs. For that price, the future Prince of Benevento also benefited from some 12,000 hectares spread over twenty-three municipalities ... A redevelopment of the gardens, a refurnishing of the castle, and the presence in the kitchen of Antonin Carême, called "the King of cooks": now Valençay was ready to welcome guests of choice. King Ferdinand VII of Spain (under house arrest, it is true) was the castle's most assiduous host, from 1808 to 1813.  © 2011
•  VERSAILLES (Palace of) - 78000 Versailles [48.80465, 2.12090] - The Counts of Provence and Artois (respectively future kings Louis XVIII and Charles X) were born there, as well as the young Louis-Alexandre Berthier, whose mother was a chambermaid to the former.  © 2011
•  VILLETTE (Castle of) - 95450 Condécourt [49.03175, 1.93976] - Property of the family of Marshal Emmanuel de Grouchy, who was born there, like his sister Sophie, the future Marquise de Condorcet. The family will dispose the castle in 1818.  © 2011
•  VINCENNES (Castle of) - 94300 Vincennes [48.84278, 2.43607] - The Duke of Enghien was executed on March 21, 1804 in the moat surrounding this fort and buried there for eternity in the Holy-Chapel.  © 2011