Hôtel des Tournelles

The Hôtel des Tournelles once occupied a vast rectangle of land north of the Place des Vosges, though no trace of the original structures remains today. Built in thirteen eighty-eight for the Chancellor of France, Pierre d’Orgemont, the estate was named for the many small towers, or tournelles, that rose above its sprawling complex of galleries, chapels, and pleasure grounds. It grew to encompass more than twenty acres, stretching toward the old city walls and serving as a favored, if intermittent, residence for French monarchs.