Before Notre Dame.. the most important landmarks of Paris that burned and disappeared, the Tuileries Palace

The Tuileries Palace is classified as one of the most important historical palaces in France, as the latter, before its destruction, had an important position similar to that enjoyed by the most luxurious French royal palaces such as Versailles.

The construction of the Tuileries Palace began around 1564 by order of the French Queen and Regent Catherine de' Medici, wife of the French King Henry II. Delorme (Philibert Delorme)

In addition, Catherine de Medici lined up a site on the banks of the Seine and close to the Louvre to construct the palace. According to what was reported by several French sources, this landmark was erected on a site that previously housed a brick factory (tuiles), from which the name “Tuileries” was borrowed.

The length of the facade of the Tuileries is estimated at about 266 meters. The work on this palace, which was a mixture of many architectural arts such as neo-classical architecture, neo-baroque and French architecture of the Renaissance, took a few centuries, as it was neglected after the death of King Henry IV (Henry IV) before renewed work on it Again during the reign of Louis XIV. The Tuileries were finished by French Emperor Napoleon III in the mid-XNUMXs after agreeing to expand its north portico and demolish parts of the Place du Carrousel to connect it to the Louvre.

Historically, the Tuileries enjoyed an important position, as the French King Louis XV settled in it during the first seven years of his rule, and the Opera moved to it in 1763 after the fire of the Royal Palace and during the period of the French Revolution, this palace witnessed the fall of the monarchy and the announcement of the establishment of the First Republic. During the year 1789, the Parisians forced King Louis XVI to leave the Palace of Versailles and return to Paris to live in the Tuileries in an effort to prevent him from leaving the country. . Also, the members of the French National Council met in 1792 in one of the Tuileries halls, and in 1793 Napoleon Bonaparte did not hesitate to adopt it as a residence. During the Second Empire, Napoleon III made the Tuileries official establishment of the Empire and made many important and sensitive decisions in the history of France.

During the Paris Commune, which followed the defeat of Emperor Napoleon III and his surrender to the Prussian army during the Battle of Sedan, the Tuileries Palace came to a tragic end. Between 22 and 23 May 1871, a number of Parisian revolutionaries such as Jules-Henri-Marius Bergeret, Victor Bénot and Étienne Boudin moved wagons full of gunpowder, tar and turpentine towards The palace square before they began the task of spraying flammable materials on its walls and placing gunpowder barrels inside it.

Later, these Paris revolutionaries deliberately bombed the Tuileries, which continued to burn between May 23 and 26, 1871, causing the loss of at least 80000 books from the palace library and the burning of a large part of its furniture. The flames also extended to devour simple parts of the neighboring buildings, especially the Louvre.

With the end of this incident, the Tuileries turned into a heap of ruins, and the place remained in this state until the early eighties of the nineteenth century, when the French authorities preferred the demolition of what remained of this palace rather than its restoration.