Chantilly Castle or Chateau de Chantilly is located near Paris in France and from 1386 to 1897, the domain was passed on by inheritance to different branches of the same family, without ever being sold.
The ORGEMONT family (14th – 15th centuries), followed by the MONTMORENCY family (15th – 17th centuries), one of the most powerful families in the kingdom and which largely contributed to its development, especially in the time of Le Connétable (the Constable) Anne de Montmorency (1493 – 1567). A friend of kings François I and Henri II, he commissioned Jean Bullant to build the Petit Château. Later came the Bourbon Condé family (17th – 18th centuries), cousins of the kings of France, the most famous of whom, Le Grand Condé, entrusted the lay out of the grounds to André le Nôtre, and finally Henri d’Orléans, Duc d’Aumale (1822 – 1897), the son of King Louis Philippe of France.
The Duc d’Aumale inherited Chantilly from his great uncle, the Prince de Condé, when he was eight years old, in 1830. He had the Grand Château, which was razed to the ground during the French Revolution, reconstructed in order to house his magnificent collection of paintings, drawings, objets d’art, books, etc.
In 1884, the Duc d’Aumale, who had no direct heir, bequeathed the Chantilly estate to the Institut de France *, subject to the Condé Museum being opened to the public. The Duc d’Aumale’s wish was for the estate to use, maintain and help restore this magnificent cultural heritage. Not only the Château and the Condé Museum, but the Grandes Ecuries, which has housed the life museum of the horse, the Park which includes many attractions.
The only remains left of the medieval Orgemont fortress are the bases of seven towers, lying in the moat ditch. In 1484, Pierre d’Orgemont, who was childless, bequeathed Chantilly to his nephew Guillaume de Montmorency.
Le Connétable Anne de Montmorency (1493-1567), comrade in arms to King François I at Marignan, played an eminent political role under both François I and Henri II, who often visited Chantilly. Anne de Montmorency commissioned the architect Pierre Chambiges to renovate the medieval château. Around 1560, he commissioned Jean Bullant, who was already busy working on his Château d’Ecouen property, to construct la Capitainerie or the Petit Château, the oldest standing part of Chantilly.
