v11_1326 - HÔTEL DES MONNAIES Jeton AR 33 1768

HÔTEL DES MONNAIES

The Château de Bellevue located in Meudon was embellished by Anne de Pisseleu, favorite of François I and Duchess of Etampes. The estate was then ceded to Cardinal Charles de Lorraine and belonged until 1654 to the Guise family. It then passed to the superintendent of finances Abel Servien then to Louvois who had the gardens designed by Le Nôtre. Purchased by Louis XIV for his son the Grand Dauphin in 1695, the estate was decorated by Jules Hardouin-Mansart. Under Louis XV, the estate declined and served as a hunting estate for Louis XV. It will regain its splendor when it becomes the residence of the King of Rome in 1812. In 1876, the castle is transformed into an astronomical observatory.