St. Germain Chateaux, 2004

Chateaux of St. Germain-en-Laye, located just outside of Paris, which now houses the French national antiquities museum.

Chateaux of St. Germain-en-Laye, located just outside of Paris, which now houses the French national antiquities museum.

Saint-Germain-en-Laye was founded in 1020 when King Robert the Pious (ruled 996-1031) founded a convent on the site of the present Church of Saint-Germain. Prior to the French Revolution in 1789, it had been a royal town and the residence of numerous French monarchs.

The old château was constructed in 1348 by King Charles V on the foundations of an old castle dating from 1238 in the time of Saint Louis. François I was responsible for its subsequent restoration. In 1862, Napoleon III set up the Musée des Antiquités Nationales in the old castle. This museum has exhibits ranging from Paleolithic to Celtic times. The "Dame de Brassempouy" sculpted on a mammoth's ivory tusk around 23,000 years ago is the most famous exhibit in the museum.

Text (second paragraph onward) from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Germain-en-Laye