Paris
The Palais-Royal was built for Cardinal Richelieu and then left to the king. Today it has a courtyard with Daniel Buren's famous striped columns and a large garden.
From cardinal to king
Cardinal Richelieu had the palace built near the Louvre. He called it the Palais-Cardinal and left it to King Louis XIII.
In 1643 Queen Anne of Austria came to live here with the young Louis XIV. Since then the palace has been called the Palais-Royal.
What to look at in the courtyard
In the main courtyard stand Les Deux Plateaux by Daniel Buren, finished in 1986. They are cut-off striped columns of different heights, set out on a regular grid.
The work caused a lot of argument: there were court cases and angry newspaper articles. Today it is one of the most photographed courtyards in Paris.
The garden and the buildings around it
Beyond the arcades lies the garden, framed by galleries full of shops. In the 1700s it was one of the liveliest places in the city, full of cafés, bookshops and gaming rooms. On 12 July 1789 a young journalist called on Parisians to revolt here.
Today the Council of State, the Constitutional Council and the Ministry of Culture work in the palace. Next door is the Comédie-Française theatre.
