Richelieu

When the Cardinal of Richelieu decided to build a new city and palace, he chose the site of his ancestors' village. In just over 10 years, between 1631 and 1642, the city of Richelieu was built following the plans of architect Jacques Lemercier.

The Cardinal's ambition was that the new city will rival Paris. To encourage Richelieu's rapid growth, he obtained authorisations for four yearly trade fairs and exempted the city of taxes.

But History had it a different way. The building site of the city was hardly a good starting point: at 10 kilometers from the closest river, and away from major trade routes. Soon after the Cardinal's death, Richelieu's development froze in time. Many of its newly-built houses remained empty. When Jean de La Fontaine visited the city a few years thereafter, he ironically described Richelieu as "the most beautiful village in the universe".

Richelieu's population stagnated at ca. 3000 since the end of the 17th century. Walking its streets feels like wandering through an abandoned movie set.