The Château du Grand Jardin was a maison de plaisance attached to Claude de Lorraine, duc de Guise, who built it between 1533 and 1546 as a grand pavilion designed for fêtes and entertainments. The château formed an annex to the medieval castle overlooking Joinville, a stronghold of the House of Guise that was demolished at the French Revolution.
In addition to its grand festive hall, which dominated the interior, were a suite of semi-private rooms to which the duke and duchess could withdraw with their most honored guests; they included a chamber preceded by its antechamber and a more private garde-robe within, but no bedrooms, as the seat of the Duke, the château de Joinville itself, was so near at hand. The Château du Grand Jardin functioned as a banqueting house on the grandest scale, a fit demonstration of the power and prestige of the head of the House of Guise.
The site, partly in ruins, was purchased at the beginning of the 1980s by the conseil général of Haute-Marne. The building was restored, and the grand park created in the 19th century has been restored and replanted.
The site has also reacquired its original vocation as a place of culture: concerts of classical music are presented at the Grand Jardin, expositions of contemporary art, and colloquiums. The château du Grand Jardin is currently a member of the European network of Centres culturels de rencontre.
The plan of the château, surrounded by its moat in the usual French manner, comprises a rectangular corps de logis without wings or outbuildings. Richly ornamented, it combines elements of Italian architectural style, under its prominent French slate roof with dormer windows.
References:The Walls of Constantinople are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (today Istanbul) since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great. With numerous additions and modifications during their history, they were the last great fortification system of antiquity, and one of the most complex and elaborate systems ever built. They were also the largest and strongest fortification in both the ancient and medieval world.
Initially built by Constantine the Great, the walls surrounded the new city on all sides, protecting it against attack from both sea and land. As the city grew, the famous double line of the Theodosian Walls was built in the 5th century. Although the other sections of the walls were less elaborate, they were, when well-manned, almost impregnable for any medieval besieger.