The Palais de la Légion d'Honneur (French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 for "Palace of the Legion of Honor") is the building on the west bank

Bank

A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...

 of the River Seine in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 that houses the Musée national de la Légion d'Honneur et des Ordres de Chevalerie

Musée national de la Légion d'Honneur et des Ordres de Chevalerie

The Musée national de la Légion d'Honneur et des Ordres de Chevalerie is a museum of national orders of merit located in the 7th arrondissement in the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur beside the Musée d'Orsay at 2, rue de la Légion-d'Honneur , Paris, France. It is open daily except Monday; admission...

("National Museum of the Legion of Honour") and is the seat of the Légion d'honneur

Légion d'honneur

The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...

, the highest order of chivalry of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. The building is also known as the Hôtel de Salm. It is located at 64, Rue de Lille.

History

The Hôtel de Salm was constructed between 1782 and 1787 by the architect Pierre Rousseau (1751–1810) for the German Prince Frederick III, Fürst of Salm-Kyrburg. The revolutionary government

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

 nationalised the building, and from 13 May 1804 it was renamed the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur, and became the seat of the newly created Légion d'honneur

Légion d'honneur

The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...

. The interior was remodeled for that purpose by Antoine-François Peyre, and new exterior sculptures were added by Jean Guillaume Moitte

Jean Guillaume Moitte

- Life :Moitte was the sculptor of Pigalle then Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne. He won the Prix de Rome for sculpture in 1768 with David carrying the head of Goliath in triumph...

 and Philippe-Laurent Roland

Philippe-Laurent Roland

Philippe-Laurent Roland was a French sculptor. A native of Pont-à-Marcq, Nord, he died in Paris. His art is neoclassical in style; he worked a great deal in stone and in terra cotta. Some of his reliefs may be seen on the facade of the Louvre....

. An additional building was added in 1866 along the then-new Rue de Solférino

Rue de Solférino

Rue de Solférino is a street in the Left Bank area of Paris. It is most commonly heard as a reference to the headquarters of the French Socialist Party, which are located there. The street is named after the Battle of Solferino, fought by Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel II against Francis Joseph...

, but the palace was destroyed by fire in 1871, under the Paris Commune

Paris Commune

The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...

. A replica was rebuilt soon afterwards under Anastase Mortier, with painters Jean-Paul Laurens

Jean-Paul Laurens

Jean-Paul Laurens , was a French painter and sculptor, and one of the last major exponents of the French Academic style.Born in Fourquevaux, he was a pupil of Léon Cogniet and Alexandre Bida...

 and Théodore Maillot providing interior decoration. An additional building was added from 1922–1925 on Rue de Bellechasse in order to house a museum of the Legion of Honor.

Influences

An imitation of the Palace building was constructed in San Francisco (the California Palace of the Legion of Honor

California Palace of the Legion of Honor

The California Palace of the Legion of Honor is a fine art museum in San Francisco, California...

), and also serves as a museum. In Rochefort-en-Yvelines

Rochefort-en-Yvelines

Rochefort-en-Yvelines is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France.-References:*...

 (near Paris) there is an almost exact replica of the Hotel de Salm, built for the wealthy banker Julius Porges by the architect Charles Mewès

Charles Mewès

Charles Frédéric Mewès was a French architect and designer.-Biography:Charles Frédéric Mewès was born at Strasbourg. He came from a Jewish family of Baltic origin. The whole family left Alsace in 1870 during the Prussian invasion. At 20, he joined the office of Jean-Louis Pascal, a then famous...

, and called the Chateau de Rochefort en Yvelines, today it is a golf club. In Haarlem

Haarlem

Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...

 in the Netherlands the banker Henry Hope

Henry Hope

Henry Hope was an Amsterdam merchant banker born in Boston, in Britain's Massachusetts Bay Colony in North America.-Early years:...

 had his resembling Villa Welgelegen

Villa Welgelegen

Villa Welgelegen is a historical building in Haarlem, the Netherlands, which currently houses the offices of the provincial executives of North Holland. Located at the north end of a public park in the city, it is an example of neoclassical architecture, unusual for its style in the...

. It was also a favorite of Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...

, whose design for Monticello

Monticello

Monticello is a National Historic Landmark just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was the estate of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia; it is...

, his own estate, was influenced by it.