Tuileries

Tuileries, PALACE OF THE, built on the site of an ancient pleasure-house called the Hôtel des Tuileries, on account of its being built in a locality outside the city where there were several tile-works (tuileries). Francis I. bought this property from the Sieur de Villeroy, as a present to his mother, the Duchess of Angoulême. It was afterwards chosen by Catharine de' Medici as the site of a new palace instead of that of Tournelles, and the building was begun in 1564. The palace was burned by the Commune in 1871, and all that remained, save two wings leading to the Louvre, finally removed in 1883. Gardens now occupy most of the site. See PARIS, Vol. VII. p. 764.