Two centuries after her birth, the Château de Pierrefonds celebrates Empress Eugenie, the remarkable woman who fell in love with it and called it home...
She was born in Granada, died in Madrid, and reigned from Paris yet it was a turreted neo-Gothic castle in the forests of Picardy that Empress Eugénie chose as her legacy. This year, on the 200th anniversary of her birth, the Château de Pierrefonds is returning the compliment with an ambitious cultural season dedicated to her.
© Benjamin Gavaudo / Centre des monuments nationaux
Born on 5 May 1826 to a Spanish-Scottish noble family, Eugénie was already one of the most celebrated beauties in Europe when Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte set his sights on her in the early 1850s. They married in January 1853, making her Empress of the French at the age of 26. She served as regent of France on three occasions, championed women’s education, patronised women artists with unusual conviction and presided over a court that was the cultural envy of Europe.
© Benjamin Gavaudo / Centre des monuments nationaux
Her connection to Pierrefonds castle began in 1857, when Napoleon III commissioned the visionary architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc to restore a medieval fortress that had lain in ruins since Louis XIII had ordered its dismantlement two centuries earlier. The result was one of the great architectural realisations of the 19th century: a neo-Gothic masterpiece that blended medieval heritage with romantic imagination. Eugénie was closely associated with the project (in fact, she allegedly pushed for the imperial couple to move to Pierrefonds in the first place), and she chose the newly erected towers to house her personal apartments. During the grand Séries de Compiègne – legendary week-long house parties that gathered European high society at the nearby imperial palace – a visit to Pierrefonds was always on the programme. In fact, a little cottage nestled in the forest between Compiègne and Pierrefonds provided a welcome rest for revellers travelling between the two châteaux but also for attendees to royal hunting parties – its name? Le Pavillon Eugénie.
© Benjamin Gavaudo / Centre des monuments nationaux
The fall of the empire in 1870, Napoleon III’s death in exile in 1873, and the devastating loss of her son in 1879 left Eugénie adrift from everything she had known. She lived on until 1920, dying at 94, holding on to the self-bestowed title Comtesse de Pierrefonds until the very end.
© Benjamin Gavaudo / Centre des monuments nationaux
Homage to Eugénie
The 2026 commemorative season, running from 5 May to 15 November, opens on the bicentenary of her birth with a moment of genuine historic significance: the opening of the Empress’s private apartments – including her bedroom – to the public for the very first time, accompanied by the return of official portraits of the imperial couple. A rich programme of themed guided visits explores three facets of Eugénie that history has often overlooked: her passion for botany (Eugénie, un amour pour les fleurs, April-June), her life at Pierrefonds seen through her own eyes (Eugénie en son château!, July-September), and her genuine fascination with the occult and spiritism (Eugénie et les sciences occultes, October-December).
Empress_Eugénie_in_Court_Dress_(after_Winterhalter,_Compiègne_IMP25)
The highlight of the season is the Week-end Impérial on June 27-28, when the castle roars back to life with military bivouacs, theatrical vignettes, croquet on the lawns, and, on the Saturday evening, the Bal de l’Impératrice, a full-dress imperial ball complete with quadrilles, waltzes, polkas, and a champagne bar in the Cour d’Honneur. Pack your period dress (tickets: €30).
Eugénie_de_Montijo,_Empress_consort_of_the_French
In September, don’t miss out on the opportunity to explore otherwise closed-off sections of the castle during the European Heritage Days on September 19-20. Halloween brings a late-night spiritism experience with theatre company Au bord des mondes, and the year closes with a Nutcracker-themed Christmas installation running from late November into the new year.
Head to this link to book tickets for the Eugénie-themed visits and festivities: https://bit.ly/4e9azNM
Château de Pierrefonds
Rue Viollet-le-Duc, 60350 Pierrefonds.
For general visitors’ information, visit www.chateau-pierrefonds.fr
Opening hours:
- From 5 September to 30 April: 10am – 5:30pm
- From 2 May to 4 September: 9:30am – 6pm
Lead photo credit : © Christian Gluckman / Centre des monuments nationaux
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