The Palais-Royal district, a mecca of French history, located in the 1st district of Paris is one of the most emblematic districts of the capital. Loaded with history since its construction by Cardinal Richelieu in 1628, the Capital Palace was offered to King Louis XIII in 1636 and served as a residence for the Regent Anne of Austria, who settled there from 1636 to 1652 with the young Louis XIV and his brother Phillipe 1.st, during the troubles of the Fronde. After that episode, the Cardinal Palace will then become, the Royal Palace.
The Palais-Royal, a monumental complex comprising the Palace, the garden, the galleries, and the theatre, from 1715 and under the regency of Philipe d’Orléans, nephews of Louis XIV, will then become the heart of the power of politics, due to its proximity to the Louvre. Since 1959, this monument together has been occupied by the Ministry of Culture, the Constitutional Council, and the State Council.
In the 18th century, during the revolutionary period, the district of the Palais-Royal became a high place of prostitution. It was the center of media pleasures in the capital where Parisian prostitutes concentrated in the Tuileries and Galeries of Palais-Royal.
Today, the district hosts an intellectual and cultural life, an essential place of Parisian life and a favorite of tourists for its shops, art galleries and their antique shops, theatres (French Comedy, Théâtre du Palais-Royal), their bistros and breweries, and beautiful gardens just a stone’s throw from the Louvre.
The French-Comédie, in the heart of Paris, is a cultural institution founded in 1680 by King Louis XIV and resident since 1799 in the Richelieu Hall, nicknamed “Molière House”.
Considered the father of the French-Comédie, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known as Molière (Playwright, Actor, and Poet), born in Paris on January 15, 1622, is widely considered one of the best writers of French language and universal literature.
The remarkable garden wanted by Cardinal Richelieu, designed by Pierre Desgotz to embellish the Palais-Royal, will be modified later, under Charles X to give its current appearance in a beautiful architectural ensemble, a must-see place in the Parisian capital.