Foto gentilmente concesse da Casa Editrice Bonechi


Jacques-Ange Gabriel was the architect of this building, erected from 1751 to 1773 with an unadorned style and graceful proportions. The façade has two orders of windows; in the centre there is a pavilion with columns supporting the front which is decorated with statues and covered by a cupola. At the rear, from Fontenoy square, it is possible to see the elegant Court of Honour with its portico of paired Doric columns and the façade formed by three pavilions linked to each other by two wings of columns. Even today, this palace is still occupied by the military academy, and is where, in 1784, Napoleon Bonapart was trained, leaving the following year with the rank of sublieutenant in second artillery.