Hôtel de Sully: The Minister's Mansion
Why is it significant?
Pass under the arch at 62 rue Saint-Antoine into a courtyard that is pure theatre: two stone sphinxes guarding the steps, and walls carved with figures representing the seasons and the elements, framed by tall windows and steep roofs. The traffic of rue Saint-Antoine fades behind you in a few steps.
Key Facts
| Place | Hôtel de Sully: The Minister's Mansion |
|---|---|
| Address | 62 Rue Saint-Antoine, 75004 Paris, France |
| Geo Coordinates | 48.85490, 2.36430 |
| Part of Walk | Princes, Rebels and the Pletzl: The Marais of Paris, from Hôtel de Ville to Bastille |
| Generated | Generated |
Pass under the arch at 62 rue Saint-Antoine into a courtyard that is pure theatre: two stone sphinxes guarding the steps, and walls carved with figures representing the seasons and the elements, framed by tall windows and steep roofs. The traffic of rue Saint-Antoine fades behind you in a few steps.
The mansion was built between 1624 and 1630 by the architect Jean Androuet du Cerceau for a financier named Mesme Gallet. Legend says Gallet lost it at the gaming table before he could enjoy it. In 1634 it was bought by Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully, a man then in his seventies, long out of power since the murder of his king and friend, Henry the Fourth, in 1610.
Sully's own life reads like a novel. As a Protestant boy of twelve, he survived the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572 by walking through the bloody streets of Paris with a Catholic book of hours under his arm, so the story goes. He became Henry the Fourth's closest companion in war, and then his finance minister, the man who paid off the debts of a ruined kingdom, built roads and bridges, and had trees planted along the highways of France. He never gave up his Protestant faith, even when his king converted.
Walk through to the back of the courtyard and into the garden: clipped box hedges, gravel paths and, at the far end, a second, smaller building, an orangery where the household kept its citrus trees through the winter. Today the mansion is the headquarters of the national body that cares for France's historic monuments, which feels right for a house this old.
Now look for the little door in the far corner of the garden. It is one of the best tricks in Paris: go through it, and you step out, without warning, under the arcades of the most beautiful square in the city. If the door happens to be closed, walk round by rue de Birague instead.