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Origin and history

The Palais du Luxembourg, located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, was commissioned in 1615 by Marie de Medici, widow of Henri IV and regent of France. Inspired by Florence's Palazzo Pitti, it entrusted its construction to the architect Salomon de Brosse. The work began after the purchase of the Luxembourg hotel in 1612, and the first stone was laid on 2 April 1615. Marie de Médicis installed her apartments there in 1625, before being exiled in 1631. The palace, unfinished, was bequeathed to his son Gaston d'Orléans, then passed into the hands of several royal owners before being ceded to the king in 1694.

In the 18th century, the palace became a place of feasts under the regency of Philip d'Orléans, and then housed the first royal gallery of painting opened to the public in 1750, foreshadowing the Louvre Museum. During the Revolution he served as a prison (notably for Danton and Desmoulins) before welcoming the Executive Board in 1795. Bonaparte, then the Conservative Senate, settled there in 1799. The architect Alphonse de Gisors carried out important works in the 19th century, including the expansion of the hemicycle and the creation of the chapel.

The palace, marked by successive transformations, became definitively the seat of the Senate under the Third Republic. Its architecture combines Florentine influences (bossages, dome) and parliamentary developments (hemicycle, conference room). The gardens, designed in Italian by Marie de Medici, complement this historic ensemble. Occupied by the Luftwaffe during World War II, it was restored after 1944 and remains a symbol of French legislative power.

The session room, decorated with statues of political figures (Colbert, Malesherbes) and busts of Marshals, illustrates its institutional role. The library, decorated by Delacroix, and the restored chapel (formerly partitioned for the offices of Public Senate) bear witness to its artistic heritage. Recent work (2017–2024) aims to modernize the spaces while preserving their historic character, such as the reopening of the Court of Honour in 2025.

The palace also houses symbolic elements, such as the throne of Napoleon I in the conference room, or paintings by Abel de Pujol in the chapel. Its history reflects the political upheavals of France, from the monarchy to the Republic, through revolutionary and imperial regimes. Today, it combines parliamentary function, artistic heritage and national memory.

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