Paris boasts so many historic monuments it has been called a living museum. However, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is under attack for seeking to lease out the capital’s heritage to luxury hotel chains.
Historians are outraged at government plans to rent out one of France’s most important palaces, L’hotel de la Marine in Place de La Concorde. It was the site of the first riots that led to the French revolution in 1789 and remains a symbol of the nation’s bloody history. King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were guillotined outside it.
It was designed by the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel and is one of the best examples of 18th-century royal architecture and its intact collection of furniture and decor is unrivalled. However, the state-owned building could be transformed into luxury boutiques, plush suites for billionaires or a hotel with pool.
Photo: Reuters
Last month a discreet ad was posted on the site of the budget ministry advertising the building for long-term lease to private firms, which will be encouraged to renovate it.
The French navy, based in the building since the revolution, will leave in 2014 for more modern headquarters. The French government has complained it cannot afford the upkeep of the landmark, with its hundreds of rooms and grandiose courtyards.
In an open letter to the French president, published by Le Monde newspaper, a group of influential historians said they were “revolted” by the plan to “flog” the palace and reduce it to a “commercial circus.”
“France has not lost its memory, it is selling it!” they said.
Art experts say the rent deal, billed as an open contest, is a stitch-up favoring a multinational finance group advised by a former culture minister.
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