France — From Monarchy to Empire — 1789–19th century

Historical focus: 1789–19th century. Dates describe the main subject, not the publication date; later afterlives may also appear.

The Revolution did not erase France's palace geography. It changed ownership, meaning and ritual. Versailles ceased to function as the seat of the royal court. The Tuileries became the last principal residence of Louis XVI. Napoleon then inherited a landscape created by kings. He restored Fontainebleau. He occupied the Tuileries. He redesigned Compiègne. He used Saint-Cloud and Rambouillet. Malmaison represented a different scale: private, intimate and closely connected to Joséphine. The Bourbon Restoration returned to parts of the former royal network.

Louis-Philippe used the Tuileries as state palace while maintaining the Orléans family worlds of Neuilly and Eu. Napoleon III again transformed the palaces into an imperial circuit. The same buildings repeatedly changed political language. Royal palace. Revolutionary property. Imperial palace. Museum. Presidential residence. The architecture survived by changing function.