Built
at the beginning of the eighteenth century
by Louise Françoise de Bourbon
(the legitimized daughter of Louis XIV
and Madame de Montespan), it took six
years to finish and was completed in 1726.
Renovated in 1765, it passed though a
succession of aristocratic owners until
it was taken away from private ownership
by the events of the French Revolution.
Declared national property, the Palais
Bourbon was assigned to the Council of
the Five Hundred in 1795, which officially
started to meet there in 1798. As Napoleon
I became emperor the Palais Bourbon continued
to be occupied by the Legislative Body
(with less power, of course). The Palais
Bourbon and the Hôtel de Lassay,
originally separate buildings, were eventually
joined together by a gallery. The Hôtel
de Lassay has since served as the residence
of the presidents of the assemblies; this
arrangement became final after 1843.
Since
the new chamber was inaugurated in 1832,
all of France's first parliamentary assemblies
have sat there except under the Second
Republic (the space was too small), from
1871 to 1879 (when the Palace of Versailles
was preferred), and during the Second
World War. Today of course it serves as
the governing heart of the people of France.
The building has seen several renovations
and modifications in the last 100 years,
most of which have been to modify it to
serve as a modern building, which allows
up-to-date day to day activities to occur
in a building that is over 275 years old.
Paris
Assemble Nationale Travel Links |
|
|
|
