The 17th century masterpiece of Vaux-le-Vicomte has been the backdrop to many major historical events and witnessed the conviction for embezzlement of its creator, Nicolas Fouquet, the banker to King Louis XIV following an extraordinary trial.
Majestically laid out along a four kilometer axis, the great symmetry of the château of Vaux-le-Vicomte surges from a series of plains like the set of a theatre. Its gardens can be viewed on either side, arranged in vast terraces that follow the natural contours of the land.
Great balance dominates every aspect of this composition, cleverly designed at times to mask asymmetries. It creates a sense of transparency, passing through the château’s entrance hall and Grand Salon, so that the statue of “Hercules at Rest,” can be glimpsed in the distance, two kilometers to the south.
