The story of this place
Inhabited by French sovereigns from Louis VII to Napoleon III, Fontainebleau is a palimpsest of French royal taste, its Renaissance galleries begun by Francis I who brought Italian masters to France in the 1530s. On 20 April 1814, after his first abdication, Napoleon descended the horseshoe staircase in the Cour d'Honneur to embrace his Imperial Guard and kiss the eagle standard before departing for exile on Elba—a scene the courtyard still bears as the Cour des Adieux (Courtyard of Farewells). Here too Napoleon signed his abdication and, earlier, held Pope Pius VII prisoner from 1812 to 1814.