Presentation :
The Château de la Solitude, or Castle of Loneliness, is located in the Hauts de Seine department in France.
Surrounded by its own very enjoyable small woods, it now belongs to the city state and its facade is visible to everyone, even though it is surrounded by high fences. The surrounding trees make for a good cover from the surrounding buildings in the spring and summer.
History :
François-Philibert Marquis was a renowned chocolate maker at the beginning of the 19th Century who opened several shops all over Paris. When he and his son passed away, his grand-daughter was left with a consequent amount of money. How would she spend it? Well to my upmost pleasure, she decided to build a neogothic castle to show her wealth, so with big windows, ornanents and overall a pretty impressive stone and metal structure, outside and in.
After her death, the building will quickly be used as a private clinic and then as a covent, before being abandonned in 1976.
Current state :
The outside stone structure is in a pretty good state, but the inside structure has been abandonned for too long and is falling appart. There is close to no risk when walking around the building or the ground floor, but the stairs and higher levels are absolutely not in a state to support people. As much as I love going as high as I can and have quite a lot of practice in climbing and evaluating the strength of materials, I did not adventure myself upstairs. For everyone's sake PLEASE DO NOT! (there is enough to see)
The undergroung level is practicable even though in a poorer state, and covered in trash... (still can't understand how people can litter and ruin places)
Photos :
I took those photos for myself with no intention of putting them out there (before I saw this community) so they have more of a personal artistic purpose than an informative report but hope they will still give a good idea of the place.
Enjoy!
Main entrance
Ground floor
At the center of the building most the structure fell to the ground and has since then been taken over by nature.
View to the top of the stairs (do not attempt to climb up!)
Underground access
Underground first atmosphere
Underground second atmosphere
A few nice graffitis around
More nature taking over (because I can never have enough)
Last facade detail
I don't have a full photo of the facade but it should be very easy to find.
I had an amazing time exploring this building, a feeling of full immersion even though so accessible and in the middle of a city. Got lucky with the weather and the sunshine made the castle and nature even more magical... A true breath of fresh air!
Would highly recommend for beginners, simply be aware of the surroundings (so be calm, quiet and the less the better).
Thank you for the read, hope that was enjoyable!
The Château de la Solitude, or Castle of Loneliness, is located in the Hauts de Seine department in France.
Surrounded by its own very enjoyable small woods, it now belongs to the city state and its facade is visible to everyone, even though it is surrounded by high fences. The surrounding trees make for a good cover from the surrounding buildings in the spring and summer.
History :
François-Philibert Marquis was a renowned chocolate maker at the beginning of the 19th Century who opened several shops all over Paris. When he and his son passed away, his grand-daughter was left with a consequent amount of money. How would she spend it? Well to my upmost pleasure, she decided to build a neogothic castle to show her wealth, so with big windows, ornanents and overall a pretty impressive stone and metal structure, outside and in.
After her death, the building will quickly be used as a private clinic and then as a covent, before being abandonned in 1976.
Current state :
The outside stone structure is in a pretty good state, but the inside structure has been abandonned for too long and is falling appart. There is close to no risk when walking around the building or the ground floor, but the stairs and higher levels are absolutely not in a state to support people. As much as I love going as high as I can and have quite a lot of practice in climbing and evaluating the strength of materials, I did not adventure myself upstairs. For everyone's sake PLEASE DO NOT! (there is enough to see)
The undergroung level is practicable even though in a poorer state, and covered in trash... (still can't understand how people can litter and ruin places)
Photos :
I took those photos for myself with no intention of putting them out there (before I saw this community) so they have more of a personal artistic purpose than an informative report but hope they will still give a good idea of the place.
Enjoy!
Main entrance
Ground floor
At the center of the building most the structure fell to the ground and has since then been taken over by nature.
View to the top of the stairs (do not attempt to climb up!)
Underground access
Underground first atmosphere
Underground second atmosphere
A few nice graffitis around
More nature taking over (because I can never have enough)
Last facade detail
I don't have a full photo of the facade but it should be very easy to find.
I had an amazing time exploring this building, a feeling of full immersion even though so accessible and in the middle of a city. Got lucky with the weather and the sunshine made the castle and nature even more magical... A true breath of fresh air!
Would highly recommend for beginners, simply be aware of the surroundings (so be calm, quiet and the less the better).
Thank you for the read, hope that was enjoyable!
