1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Pierrefonds

PIERREFONDS, a town of northern France, in the department of Oise, 9 m. S.E. of Compiègne by road. Pop. (1906), 1482. It is celebrated for its feudal stronghold, a masterpiece of modern restoration. The building is rectangular in shape, with a tower at each corner and at the centre of each of the walls, which are strengthened by crenelation and machicolation. A lofty keep defends the principal entrances on the south-west. The interior buildings are chiefly modern, but the exterior reproduces faithfully that of the medieval fortress. Pierrefonds has a church dating from various periods from the 11th to the 16th century, and its mineral springs are in some repute. The chateau was begun in the last decade of the 14th century by Louis d'Orléans, to whom the domain was given by Charles VI., and finished early in the 15th century. It was subsequently held by the Burgundians, the English and the adherents of the League, from whom it passed to Henry IV. It was dismantled in 1622. The ruins, bought by Napoleon I., were restored, by order of Napoleon III., from 1858 to 1895, under the direction, first of Viollet-le-Duc and afterwards of E. Boeswillwald.