Panoramica:
Alla periferia orientale di Parigi, vicino alla città di Vincennes e al Bois de Vincennes, esplorate l'ex fortezza e dimora reale nota come Château de Vincennes. La maggior parte della sua costruzione è avvenuta tra il 1361 e il 1369 e dal XIV al XVI secolo è stato il palazzo preferito dai re francesi, secondo solo al Palais de la Cité. Scoprite l'affascinante passato di questa straordinaria struttura, che servì come prigione prima di diventare una caserma e un arsenale durante l'epoca napoleonica.
Punti salienti
- Visitate il famoso Château de Vincennes e lasciatevi affascinare dal classico edificio medievale completamente bianco che testimonia il suo antico status di palazzo reale.
- Esplorate le alte torri e le prigioni, che servivano a fortificare il castello durante le battaglie, e passeggiate per i suoi corridoi storici.
- Scoprite il torrione medievale ben conservato, la torre fortificata più alta d'Europa con i suoi 52 metri, dove morì il re Enrico V e dove furono rinchiusi Fouquet, il marchese de Sade e Mirabeau.
- Scoprite l'impressionante sfarzo esterno dell'edificio gotico e il bellissimo rosone della Sainte Chapelle de Vincennes.
Very nice place to visit. There is not so much to see but I would say that it is worth it. Generally you would spend about an hour or so. The castle is located in a less touristy area so there are barely any visitors compared to other attractions in Paris, making the place really quiet. It is very accessible by metro.
This castle wasn't as captivating as Chateau de Rambouillet further out of Paris, but Vincennes was super easy to reach by Parisian Metro Line A, with the walk to the castle being a very small distance. We were there for opening. Surprisingly, there was initially no one waiting, and then two or three turned up. I found this surprising as it was in what in Australia we'd call the inner suburbs - but this is Europe! It was simple to purchase admission tickets at the gift shop located inside the grounds. We spent about an hour here, including a visit (as Catholics) to Sainte-Chapelle that was austere inside, though it had copious most attractive stained glass windows. One could walk around the Castle grounds and its upper walkway. I did not go right to the top. Even when we departed, there were few visitors, but it was a weekday. We didn't visit a cafe in the town but there looked to be quite a few across the road from the castle.
We decided to spend half the day at this lovely understated Chateau. It was only a few more metro stops past the area where we were staying. The metro stop drops you off in front of the Chateau. We arrived a few minutes before they opened. You walk in through the drawbridge and the ticket office/gift shop is in the building to the right. You will need a ticket to get into the main Chateau building and to get into the Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes. We decided to spend a few Euros and get the self audio tour which was definitely worth it! I would highly recommend the audio tour since it was easy to use and provided a detailed description of what was once in then Chateau. Sainte-Chapelle was just beautiful especially with the morning sunshine coming in though the stained glass. There is also a museum of the French military in another building that was quite interesting to walk through. All in all this was an excellent half day excursion without the large crowds. Both couples enjoyed the time we spent there and were happy we decided to visit.