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Origin and history

Bercy Castle was built between 1658 and the beginning of the eighteenth century on the site of a former medieval mansion belonging to the Bercy seigneury. The architect François Le Vau, brother of Louis Le Vau (known for Vaux-le-Vicomte and Versailles), began work in 1658 for Charles-Henri de Malon de Bercy, president of the Grand Council. At his death in 1676, only the central and eastern houses were completed. His son, Anne Louis Jules Malon de Bercy, intendant and director of the Compagnie des Indes, continued the work, adding the western wing, setting up the park and deviating the road from Paris to Charenton to isolate the estate.

The work was completed under Charles-Henri Malon de Bercy (grandson of the first), intendant of finance, who finished the interior decorations between 1700 and 1740. The park, partly designed by André Le Nôtre, included a large parterre of embroidery, a terrace overlooking the Seine, and groves. The castle, a symbol of the aristocratic fascist under Louis XIV, was, however, the victim of Parisian urbanization in the 19th century. As early as 1804, wine warehouses and fortifications (the Thiers compound in 1840) invaded the park, followed by the arrival of the railway in 1847, which split the estate.

The castle, abandoned and sold in batches, was demolished in 1861 after the dispersion of its interior decorations, considered among the most remarkable of Louis XIV, Régence and Rocaille styles. The woodwork was acquired by collectors and brought up to prestigious houses, such as the Palace of the Elysée, the Embassy of Italy in Paris, or the Castle of Camden Place in England. Today, only the two pavilions of the communes, classified as historical monuments, are still located on Rue du Petit-Château in Charenton-le-Pont. The park, for its part, was awarded to general stores and railway infrastructure, marking the end of this exceptional area.

Before the 17th century castle, Bercy's seigneury, attested as early as 1383, included a fortified mansion and lands extending to the Seine. The Malon family, noble since 1468, took possession of it in 1521 by marriage. The estate then passed to Nicolaÿ in the 19th century, before its destruction. Gabriel de Nicolaÿ, the last owner, had the decorations picked up by architect Froelicher before the 1860 auction. Some elements, such as statues or fountains, were scattered in Parisian parks (Bagatelle) or castles (Ferrières, Bizy).

The architectural remains still visible, the pavilions of the communes (no 109 and 114 rue du Petit-Château), have been protected since 1959 and 1966. Their preservation recalls the historical importance of this castle, a witness to the French decorative art of the 17th and 18th centuries, now erased by the industrial expansion of Paris. Froelicher's graphic archives, preserved at the Louvre and the Château de Brissac, are the latest visual evidence of its past splendor.

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