Sometimes the buildings that house great artworks are as beautiful as the art itself, and that’s certainly the case at Château de Chantilly.
The fourteenth-century castle (rebuilt in the nineteenth century after suffering damage in the French Revolution) is nestled in Oise, a department just north of Paris, and is home to the Musée Condé. Bragging the second-most extensive art collection after the Louvre (including works by Raphael, Poussin and Fra Angelico), as well as a reading room of antique books and mediaeval manuscripts, we’re hardly shocked that this place was voted ‘France’s favourite monument’ via a France TV poll in 2025.
However, much like the Louvre, it is apparently in dire need of some TLC, and the plan is to fund it all via ‘public generosity’.
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Over the past six years, since the late Aga Khan stopped funding it in 2020, restorations have been paid for by the Friends of the Condé Museum and the Friends of the Domaine de Chantilly. Last year’s 658,000 visitors generated €12.7 million in revenue, but a recent press release outlined plans for a ‘major fundraising campaign’ to finance the site’s ‘urgent health needs’.
The manuscript room needs upgrades to its air conditioning and electrical system, stabilisation of the floor and restoration of the leather on its bookshelves. According to the Independent, €68 million will be needed over the next decade to help restore the chateau’s listed buildings and ensure its ‘long-term preservation’.
To break it down, the Times outlines that €22.9 million will go towards the chateau itself, €11.5 million is needed for the adjoining Château d’Enghien, the reading room renovation requires around €4 million, and €33 million is needed for ‘structural emergencies’.
That’s quite a chunk of cash, right? Stay tuned for more updates on the chateau’s progress, and in the meantime, check out all the exhibitions worth travelling to Paris for in 2026.
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