Château de La Motte-Tilly, an intimate and enchanting palace in the Champagne region

Of all the grand, magnificent palaces, towering fortresses, and impressive monuments, I love the small, hidden, and intimate chateaux most of all, the ones with human proportions – the Maison de Plaisance. Chateau de la Motte-Tilli is an excellent example of such a palace, which is not so well known to the Israeli public, which is a shame.

The history of Château de la Motte-Tilli

Château de la Motte-Tilli, located on the banks of the Seine River in the Champagne-Ardenne region, is a summer castle that is very reminiscent of Château de Champ-sur-Marne (which I wrote about on this site), both of which were built in the 18th century in the Île-de-France countryside to serve as a retreat away from the hustle and bustle of Paris and Versailles and to host hunting expeditions, which were the favorite sport of the nobility at that time. In 1710, the king decided Louis XIV To grant Duke-Marshal Adrien Maurice de (Noailles) the medieval feudal fortress that stood on the site in recognition of his loyal service to the crown.

The fortress, named after the moat that surrounded its walls (the moat), stood neglected until it was demolished in 1754 and replaced by the Château de la Motte-Tille, built using the ruins of the fortress. The building was designed by architect François-Nicolas Lancret for Abbé Joseph-Marie Terray, who was the Minister of Finance and Director of Royal Buildings for King Louis XV and his brother (Joseph was a clergyman and his official religious position was Abbot of Molsheim).

Antoine Jean Terray (born 1750) was the owner of the chateau when it broke out. French RevolutionHe served as a member of the National Assembly in Versailles in 1789. Since he considered himself respected and loved by the common people, he refused to exile himself, as many members of the nobility and clergy did at the time, in order to protect their lives. This decision proved to be a bitter mistake when he was beheaded by guillotine in 1794, along with his wife, on charges that they had smuggled their four children to England four years earlier.

Antoine managed to leave his mark in his later years by creating English gardens that were at the height of fashion at the time. At the same time as his execution, the castle was nationalized and all its contents emptied and sold by the revolutionary government, but about three years later it was returned to Antoine's son - Claude Hippolyte Terray de Rozières, who was appointed an officer of the Legion of Honor in 1818. FranceThe castle's troubles did not end when, in the Battle of France in 1814, the defeat of Napoleon I led the Cossacks from the occupying Russian army to settle in the castle, who uprooted its wooden floor for heating purposes.

The castle passed through the family for generations until in 1910, Claude Hippolyte's grandson, Charles Gerald, Duke of Rohan-Chabot (Le Comte Gérard de Rohan-Chabot), purchased it from his two nephews and began restoring and preserving the castle. However, tragedy struck again when his son and son-in-law, the Marquis de Maillé, were killed in World War I within 11 days of each other. His wife, Aliette de Maillé de la Tour-Landry, remained the sole heiress and took on the restoration and preservation of the estate as a lifelong project. She refurnished the castle with 18th-century furniture, restored and preserved the buildings and gardens, and even founded an association that cared for the preservation and restoration of historical buildings from the pre-19th century in France.

When her only daughter, Claire Clémence de Maillé – princesse de Polignac, died of cancer in 1970, Alyet decided to give the château to the Centre des monuments nationaux on the condition that they maintain it and open it to the public. Alyet died two years later in 1972, thus ending the dynasty that had held the place for over two centuries.

A few words about the palace itself

The building is located in the middle of a spacious park between the main road and the Seine River and is connected by arcades to the service buildings (some of which were demolished in the 19th century) on either side. These arcades form an impressive entrance to the French gardens behind the castle, in the center of which is a canal in the style of the Grand Canal at Versailles that reaches the banks of the Seine River. The construction of the Maison des Pléisance exudes ease and a demonstrated lack of formality. Large doors allow direct access into the building from the gardens, and many windows allow light to enter.

The main entrance to the castle is through a large but unadorned foyer leading to the large salons that include, among other things, a library, a billiard room, a dining room and various reception rooms. The spacious stairs are located next to the foyer in a separate space to avoid unnecessary ceremony and pomp. While the large salons are connected to each other as infields (continuous passage from room to room), the living rooms on the second floor are connected by a corridor as is customary in modern construction today, in order to create separation and intimacy between the rooms. It is important to note on this occasion that this form of construction, which is so typical of the rural Maison de Plaisance and the urban Hôtel Particular, is the beginning of the modern house in which we live today.

When you enter the main gate located on the main road, you immediately notice a beautiful building with human proportions, meticulous symmetry, and the pointed roofs that are so typical of French architecture. We were greeted by a friendly, speaking guide. French Only one who accompanied us throughout the tour, which was actually a private tour of the completely desolate place, and so with a basic knowledge of French and a limited vocabulary, we began the tour in the foyer and from there we continued to the luxurious salons while she explained as best she could to the couple of aliens who had landed on it from Israel.

The fact that the three of us were alone and the quiet that prevailed in the pastoral place created the perfect atmosphere for a visit to the place, at times it seemed like we were in the 18th century and the tour transported us no less than the Duchesse de Rosière. The elegant salons exude a restrained rural splendor devoid of the pomp that is so typical of the urban Hôtel Particular. Wide doors connect the salons to the beautiful gardens and with a quick and unceremonious passage we find ourselves walking through the gardens. After descending a few terraces we reach the Grand Canal located in well-kept French gardens, a walk along it brings us to the banks of the Seine, which are separated by a narrow road. The French gardens are surrounded by English gardens with avenues of trees and various buildings.

How to get to the palace

Getting to Chateau de la Motte-Tilli is a bit difficult since there is no public transportation to the place. To get there, I rented a car from Vincennes and drove about an hour and a half southeast. You should check opening hours and days. On the National Monuments Center website