Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The hotel of Transylvania, located at the 9 Malaquais wharf in Paris, was built between 1622 and 1624 for Jacques de Hillerin, priest and councillor in Parliament. He occupied a plot acquired during the subdivision of the gardens of the Queen Marguerite Hotel, at the corner of the present Bonaparte Street. Prior to its construction, the site housed a modest residence of the brothers of Saint-Jean-de-Dieu, which was ceded to Marguerite de Valois in the early seventeenth century.

The monument derives its name from François Rakoczy, prince of Transylvania proscribed in 1711, who occupied it in 1714. For lack of resources, his suite set up a playhouse (a tripot), frequented by military and aristocrats, before activity ceased quickly. The hotel then changed hands several times: inherited by the descendants of Hillerin, it was rented to the Marshal of Tallard (1705), then sold to the Prince of Conty (1720) before passing into the hands of noble families such as the Gramont or the Noailles-Mouchy, guillotined in 1794.

In the 19th century, the hotel was redecorated in the style of Executive Board by Marie-Sébastien Fontaine de Birée (1791), then acquired by Parisian notaries, including the Defresnes family (1836–92). It will host literary and musical fairs, such as Adelaide-Louise d'Eckmühl in Blocqueville, where Franz Liszt performed. The interior decorations of the first floor, dating from the second half of the 19th century, and the French ceilings of the other floors testify to these transformations.

The hotel is quoted in Manon Lescaut (1731) by Abbé Prévost: the narrator, Des Grieux, gains his fortune by cheating at the game. Ranked a Historic Monument in 2013, it preserves brick and stone facades redesigned in the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as a main staircase and decorated apartments, protected by decree.

His illustrious tenants include Joseph Carnot, Vivant Denon (director of the Napoleon Museum), and the Marquise de Blocqueville. The protected elements include facades, roofs, main staircase, and interior decorations on the first and second floors, reflecting its architectural evolution over three centuries.

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