Paris1972-Versailles2003

I have heard about it ,but it took me a while to stop by several years back, Once again found an older pic in my cd rom vault and should be in my blog for you and me. I was on my walking warrior mode in Paris and stumble onto this wonderful historical and architecturally stunning area of my eternal Paris. Therefore, glad to tell you about the Château de la Reine Blanche of Paris !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I,

The L’îlot de la Reine Blanche or the island of the White Queen is a set of buildings located in the 13éme arrondissement of Paris, close to the Manufacture des Gobelins. It is triangular in shape and inserted between the streets of the Gobelins, Berbier-du-Mets and Gustave-Geffroy. The main building is at 6 Rue Gustave Geffroy,get there on Métro Les Gobelins line 7, The Château de la Reine Blanche, this residence, a stone’s throw from the Gobelins factory, is actually an old royal manor, built by the widow of Saint-Louis, Queen Marguerite de Provence, on the banks of the Bièvre, a river which then flowed in the heart of Paris. (now is underground), Built in stone, the house has mullioned windows, a mole of tourelles with cut sides, two spiral staircases, vaulted cellars and a court of honor accessible by a passage surmounted by a gallery with arcades .It is the castle as we know it today, therefore dating from the Renaissance, with a superb architecture, connected to the island of the White Queen, which consists of other historical buildings. The building was rehabilitated in 2002, becoming a place of residence, and whose exteriors can be visited, as well as one of the spiral towers, true architectural feat, during the Heritage Days, when open.

A bit of history tell us It was Queen Marguerite de Provence, widow of Saint Louis, who built in 1290, on the path going from the rue de Lourcine, where she had founded in 1270 the convent of the Cordelières, at the Moulin de Croulebarbe, a manor at the edge from the Bièvre where she withdrew until her death in 1295 and in which her daughter Blanche de France, widow of Ferdinand, infant from Castile, resided. This residence is called in the 14C “Hostel de la Reyne Blanche”, because the French widowed queens dressed in white, mourning color (in the same way, there is, at the Château de Chenonceau, a so -called bedroom of the White Queen, who was occupied by Louise de Lorraine, inconsolable widow of Henri III). In the 15C, the Bièvre district was outside Paris, in the village of Saint-Marcel, surrounded by its own wall and developed at the place of a Gallo-Roman necropolis around the church containing the tomb of Saint Marcel. The famous Gobelin family, dyers who settled there in 1447. Enriched by the success of their activity, the Gobelin bought the hotel of Queen Blanche as well as all the dwellings in the current rue des Gobelins – except the No7. The old royal building then becomes an industrial building, as well as a place of life for the family. Gilles Gobelin, under François Ier establishes the scarlet dye, then the canays, and they have an industrial house and buildings rebuilt on the site of the old Hostel, the name of “white queen” remaining attached to the place. From 1500 to 1535 a large mainsage body in turrets, two floors with two spiral stairs and two floors of cellars. In 1572, Philippe Canaye sold the building in the 17C, the building was transformed into a habitat, created the honor court and added a checking pass. It became a brasserie then a Jacobin club in 1790. Over the centuries, several buildings with an industrial vocation, a tilemaker, a tannery and then, in the middle of the 18C, all the buildings became a dye again. The two spiral staircases include in their center a single piece of wood from bottom to top and which supports the roof according to Flemish techniques. The pavilion in turn was completely destroyed during the rebellion of Paris communards , then rebuilt identically. In 1906, we pierced rue Gustave-Geffroy and in 1912 the Bièvre bed was channeled and covered to become rue Berbier-du-Mets. From 1999 to 2002, the renovated island and the restored historical buildings are open to the visit.

The Paris tourist office on the ilôt de la Reine Blanche : https://parisjetaime.com/eng/transport/ilot-de-la-reine-blanche-p2041

There you go folks, never know where you are going to end up in Paris if you let your legs do the walking, always amazing my eternal Paris. This is another example as to why the most beautiful City in the world , history and architecture all the best, enjoy it. Again, hope you enjoy this post on the Château de la Reine Blanche of Paris !!! as I,

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!