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He also had the terrace landscaped and you can still get to see a
statue of him on horseback, plus there were seven chapels constructed although there are
only three chapels still in existence.
Eventually it was in the hands of his grandson, Henri II de Montmorency who had the Maison
de Sylvie constructed in the grounds of the chateau, but after being involved in a revolt
against King Louis XIII, he was beheaded and Chantilly was confiscated by King Louis XIII.
After a few years, in the year 1643 the chateau was back in the hands of the family of
Henry II. In fact it was his sister who was the wife of Henri II de Bourbon Cond?,
and parents to Le Grande Cond? that took over Chantilly. It was Louis II de Bourbon
Cond?, known as Le Grand Cond? that transformed the chateau by having the grounds
landscaped by Andr? Le N?tre, who landscaped the Chateau
de Versailles at a later date.
Le Grand Cond? turned the Chateau de Chantilly
into a venue for parties, balls and fireworks displays with a rather influential circle of
people attending. Then in the 18th century, the son of Le Grand Cond?, called
Prince Henry Jules had the Grand Ch?teau transformed by Jules Hardouin Mansart, who was
also the architect responsible for enlarging the Royal Chateau of Saint-Germain-en-Laye
and Chateau Versailles, but the work was completed by Jean Aubert.
Louis Henri, Prince de Bourbon Cond? commissioned Jean Aubert to build the Grandes
Ecuries, which was an 18th century architectural masterpiece, plus the apartments of the Petit Chateau were redecorated and then his
son Louis Joseph, Prince de Cond? had the Jeu de Paume built in 1756 along with the
Chateau d'Enghien, which is a long classical style building situated on the right of
the Grille d'Honneur.
It was in the year 1774 that Prince Louis Joseph had the English and Chinese gardens laid
out, plus the Le Hameau, which is a group of five peasants houses was constructed and this
is what inspired Marie Antionette's Le Hameau in the Trianon in the Parc of the Chateau de
Versailles.
When the Bastille fell in 1792 he emigrated
and unfortunately the collections in Chantilly were seized and transported to The Louvre in Paris,
then the chateau was used as a prison before being demolished in 1799.
Prince Louis Joseph returned to France several years later and had the apartments
restored, plus a good part of his collections that were sent to The Louvre were
recovered. The architect, Victor Dubois, was commissioned to redesign the English
garden in 1817 and Louis Joseph also had the ditch filled in that separated the two
chateau buildings.
The Chateau Chantilly then passed to his son, Louis Henri Joseph, but unfortunately the
son of Louis Henri was executed and he had no heir to leave Chantilly to and so it was
passed to his great nephew, Henry d'Orleans, Duc d'Aumale in 1830 when he was only eight
years of age.
The Duc d'Aumale was the fifth son of King Louis Philippe and became a soldier. He
commissioned the architect Duban to build a gallery leading to his apartments and Eugene
Lami redecorated these private apartments, but Duc d'Aumale was exiled in London during
the years 1848 through to 1870, where he accumulated incredible collections.
Upon his return to France in 1871, he decided to have the Grand Chateau reconstructed in
which to house his collections and this was conducted between the years of 1875 and 1885
by the architect Honor? Daumet.
Unfortunately, his wife had already died and he lost both of his sons, so again there was
no heir to inherit Chantilly.
But the Duc d'Aumale had been a member of the Institut de France since 1871 and decided to
leave the Chantilly estate to the Institut under the specific conditions that upon his
death, the Cond? Museum would be opened
to the public. Also his will was very specific that the presentation of his fabulous
collections of things such as paintings and books would not be changed or loaned out.
And hence the Cond? Museum within the Chateau Chantilly was opened to the public
approximately one year after his death. But his wish was for the whole estate to
become a cultural heritage and this also included the Grandes Ecuries, which is home to
the La Mus?e Vivant du Cheval along
with the Parks and Gardens of Chantilly
and now through Henry d'Orleans, Duc d'Aumale, we all have the opportunity of experiencing
this wonderful place that is steeped in history.
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