Chaillot Palace
Palace Chaillot is located at Trocadero square in Paris. The palace was built especially for the World Expo in 1937. Chaillot palace was erected at the site of the Trocadero Palace, which has not won the love of Paris.
The monumental palace wings were joined by a spacious terrace with a magnificent view of the Eiffel Tower. The terrace and view of the large promenade lead to the Seine and sink in greenery and picturesque fountains.
Under the palace, at the site of former quarries, was created a huge aquarium - Cinéaqua. There are over ten thousand inhabitants of the underwater world. It was built during the construction of the Trocadero Palace. The aquarium has undergone restoration twice and in 2006 the halls reopened for visitors.
Today, in the palace is located the museum of mankind, and the National Maritime Museum. In 1937 the palace had become a center for the World Expo, in conjunction with the Museum of Contemporary Art, built in the same year. Chaillot Palace is a monumental complex of two buildings with widely deployed curved wings, which are connected by a sixty meter terrace. Passage between two buildings is softened by increasing facade panels with soft contours. This method of symmetry and cascading attaches great beauty to the building.
Chaillot’s colonnades are reminiscent of the classic examples. Under the terrace is contained the great hall of the National Theatre, which gives fans a great theater scene.
Apart from the museum of humanity and maritime museum, the underground level has a museum of French monuments, but also a museum of French art and folk traditions. In the palace there is also the Chaillot architectural museum.
Chaillot palace owes its name to the old medieval castle, which was called the same way. In the sixteenth century, Catherine de Medicis ordered a castle on the hill Chaillot. Then the castle was inhabited by Marshall Bassompire. He was sent to the Bastille, in which he burned more than six thousand love letters he received from his wife. In 1651, for Queen Henrietta, the palace became a place of relaxation, as it did for many famous ladies.
Subsequently, the Hill, located in this area was called the Trocadero in honor of the Spanish conquest of the fortress of the same name in 1823. In 1878 Paris hosted the World Expo and Trocadero Palace was built, which was very large, but very ugly. It stood nearly sixty years before being torn to the ground, none of which Paris pitied. Trocadero Palace was a mixture of Arabic and Byzantine architecture, but the styles were not in harmony with one another.
The new building of the palace was built designed by architect Léon Azema, Jacques Carlu and Louis-Hippolyte Boileau.
Chaillot Palace established a constructive classical style and is a typical monument of architecture of the thirties of the twentieth century. It is built of concrete and white stone, which serves as a cladding of the facade. Chaillot palace was built on the foundations of the palace Trocadero. Chaillot palace is decorated with bronze statues of Hercules and Apollo, which rise to the wings of the palace. The words of French poet Paul Valéry decorate the building.
