Chantilly-Gouvieux: station history
Served by: RER D.
Did you know?
A station of the Compagnie des chemins de fer du Nord, now served by TER Hauts-de-France trains and by about fifteen RER D trains per direction per day. Its building is standard for the Compagnie's second-class stations, on a plan by the architect Lejeune; pavilions at the ends housed the station master and his deputy. It has kept its original platform canopy and the false metal vaults of its hall. A reconstruction project proposed in 1922 by Gustave Umbdenstock was never carried out.
Anecdote
A « racecourse station » operated from 1897 to 1954 south of the main station, with eleven platforms and twelve tracks reserved for race days at the hippodrome, a turntable and a water tower. A loading dock was used to load the racehorses of the Chantilly, Gouvieux and Lamorlaye stables. The Chantilly viaduct, known as the Canardière, is 443 metres long, has 36 arches and reaches 22 metres in height.
Audio guide
Château de Chantilly: the cream of the antique painting collections!
Plundered and then largely demolished during the Revolution, the Château de Chantilly rose from the ashes thanks to Henri d 'Orléans, Duke of Aumale, the penultimate son of King Louis-Philippe. In 1871, he began to rebuild it and made it the setting for his fabulous collection of art.
However, the estate experienced another great moment in the 17th century with the Grand Condé, Louis II of Bourbon-Condé, who won the Battle of Rocroi at the age of 23. Called "Monsieur le Prince", he surrounded himself with talents like Boileau and Racine and entrusted André Le Nôtre with the gardens and the Grand Canal.
In the 18th century, the Duke of Bourbon, a descendant of the Grand Condé, built the Great Stables, on the edge of the current racecourse, in a classic style.
Returning to Chantilly in 1871, the Duke of Aumale, heir to the Condé fortune, embellished the estate and enriched its collections of paintings. He bequeaths the whole to the Institut de France, provided that the works are not moved. They are now on display in the Condé Museum, which houses ancient paintings, manuscripts and documents, including the famous manuscript of the Duke of Berry's Très Riches Heures.
Around Chantilly-Gouvieux
- Château de Chantilly, 1050 m away — A princely estate housing the Musée Condé, France's second-richest collection of old-master paintings.
- Musée Condé, 1050 m away — A collection bequeathed by the Duc d'Aumale, displayed in an unchanged period hang.