Lesdiguieres Hotel (Hôtel de Lesdiguières)
The Lesdiguières Hotel (Mansion) was situated in the Arsenal quarters near the aristocratic quarters Maret and the Bastille, at the crossing of today’s Rue de la Cerisaie and Rue Lesdiguières where building number 10 has a memorial plaque dedicated to the stay of Peter I.
The luxury mansion was built in the period between 1587 and 1600 by reconstructing and extending two buildings that previously stood on this site. Originally, it was owned by Sébastien Zamet, a financer from Florence who had been invited to Paris by Catherine de Medici. Then, the building was owned by the Lesdiguières family until the early 18th century. In 1716, it was purchased by Marshal de Villeroy, the governor of young King Louis XV.
The mansion was located near the Petit Arsenal in a small dead-end street called Rue de la Cerisaie. The hotel’s garden was adjacent to the Bastille. The palace-type building comprised a large rectangular courtyard flanked by two groups of buildings on right and left, which were connected by two oblong buildings. The left group of buildings had a long inner courtyard with stalls and residential quarters on the second floor. The right part of the hotel had two inner courtyards and housed the show apartments which were accessed via the main staircase. There was a chapel adjacent to the right portion of the building. The wing facing the street had a portico leading to the courtyard. A lower (two-storey) building with a terrace facing the garden was between the courtyard and the garden. The main buildings had three floors. The garden had a parterre with flowerbeds in front of the terrace and trees planted along the perimeter. In the garden, the former owner, the Duchess Lesdiguières, installed a funny monument with a poetic epitaph dedicated to her favorite cat.
The Lesdiguières Hotel was prepared in advance for the accommodation of Peter I and his entourage in Paris, as well as the apartments in the Louvre. Between the two residences, the Tsar chose the more modest one. As the Duke de Saint-Simon wrote, “it was a spacious and beautiful palace close to the Arsenal. It was owned by Marshal Villeroy who lived in the Tuileries Palace. The building was vacant, as the Duke de Villeroy was not someone who would live large, and he believed the place was too far away to live in. It was fully furnished with royal furniture with great splendor”. Journalists spread a rumor that upon his arrival in the Lesdiguières Hotel, the Tsar found his bedroom too luxury and slept in the dressing room on a bed intended for servants.
Peter I lived in the Lesdiguières Hotel during his stay in Paris from April 26/May 7 until May 9/20, 1717, excluding the days when he visited the King’s suburban residences in Versailles (from May 14/25 to May 17/28 and from May 23/June 3 to June 1/12) and Fontainebleau (from May 19/30 to May 21/June 1).
In the Lesdiguières Hotel, the Tsar received Philippe of Orléans and young King Louis XV. Here, he also met the leader of the Hungarian uprising Francis Rákóczi . According to reports in the press, while staying in the Lesdiguières Hotel, the Tsar was served by the King’s people who cooked him a lunch by 10 o’clock. He almost never had dinner and went to bed early. His table was laid for 14 persons and his entourage was comprised of just about 30 people. The Tsar ordered his Russian servants to be dressed in the French manner in green clothes trimmed with gold lace. The Tsar set off rockets and firecrackers in the mansion’s garden to amuse himself. An Orthodox service was held at the Tsar’s residence before he left Paris on the Saint Trinity Day of May 9/20.
The Lesdiguières Hotel was rebuilt several times before it was finally destroyed in 1877 when the Boulevard Henri IV was built. A multi-storey apartment building dating from the late 19th century which currently stands on the corner of the Rue de la Cerisaie and the Rue Lesdiguières has a memorial plaque which reads: “Ici s’élevait l’hôtel de Lesdiguières ou le czar Pierre-le-Grand séjourna en 1717” (Here was the Lesdiguières Hotel where Tsar Peter the Great stayed in 1717).
