Château de Rambouillet 3.29

The Château de Rambouillet is a château in the town of Rambouillet, Yvelines department, in the Île-de-France region in northern France, 50km southwest of Paris. It was the summer residence of the Presidents of the French Republic from 1896 until 2009, and it is now managed by the Centre des monuments nationaux.HistoryThe château was originally a fortified manor dating back to 1368 and, although amputated of its eastern wing at the time of Napoleon I, it still retains its pentagonal bastioned footprint. King Francis I died there, on 31 March 1547, probably in the imposing medieval tower that bears his name. Like the Hôtel de Rambouillet in Paris, the château was owned by Charles d'Angennes, the marquis de Rambouillet during the reign of Louis XIII. Avenues led directly from the park of the chateau into the adjacent game-rich forest. More than 200 square kilometres of forest remain, the remnant of the Forest of Rambouillet, also known as Forêt d'Yveline or Forêt de l'Yveline.