Château d'Écouen

Château d’Écouen is a 16th-century Renaissance château in Écouen, Île-de-France, that today accommodates the Musée national de la Renaissance. The building is a principal provincial example of French Renaissance architecture north of Paris.

Inside are period rooms and exhibition galleries presenting Renaissance sculpture, furniture, tapestries and decorative arts, arranged within the château’s historic apartments and galleries. The site is visited for both its architecture and its collections; museum displays are the main attraction rather than expansive gardens.

Construction began in the mid 16th century for Anne de Montmorency, a leading noble and constable of France, and the château reflects his status through its scale and ornament. The building subsequently passed through various owners and eventually became state property and a museum site in the 20th century.

The château sits in the town of Écouen in the Val-d’Oise department, north of Paris - roughly 20 km from central Paris - and is accessible by regional road links and public transport from the Paris suburbs.

• Museum collection: Houses France's national Renaissance museum with collections of furniture, sculpture and decorative arts from the 16th century onward, installed in a restored Renaissance palace.