Catherine de' Medici commissioned the palace as a residence for herself, and construction began in 1564 under Philibert de l'Orme, who died in 1570. Jean Bullant succeeded him. Henri IV built the Grande Galerie linking the Tuileries and the Louvre. Louis Le Vau and François d'Orbay extended the palace between 1659 and 1666.
The facade was 873 feet (266 m) long. The article lists a Renaissance origin, Louis XIII and Baroque work in the 17th and 18th centuries, and Empire, Neoclassical, Neo-Baroque and Second Empire work in the 19th. Hector Lefuel redesigned the Pavillon de Flore in 1864 to 1868.
Most French monarchs from Henri IV to Napoleon III lived here. On May 23, 1871, during the suppression of the Paris Commune, the palace was set on fire. The fire lasted 48 hours and left only the foundations and the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. Demolition ended on September 30, 1883.
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