The Palais Royal is a palace and garden in Paris. Opposite the north wing of the Louvre, its famous forecourt screened with columns faces the Place du Palais-Royal, which was much enlarged by Baron Haussmann after the Rue de Rivoli was built for Napoleon. The Palais Royal was built in 1629 by Cardinal Richelieu who was an powerful French minister from 1624 to 1642. At the time the palace was known as the Palais Cardinal and after the cardinal bequeathed the building to King Louis XIII, it became a royal palace. During the revolution of 1848, the Palais Royal was mobbed and was almost destroyed by fire in 1871. Fortunately the basic structure survived. The building was handed over to the government after its restoration in 1876. It currently houses the Ministry of Culture, the Conseil d'état and the Constitutional Council.

The palace is not open to the public, but you can visit the courtyard and the garden. The courtyard, namely Cour d'Honneur, is dominated by a large sculpture by Daniel Buren, installed in 1986. It includes 280 black and white striped truncated columns.

The palace's garden is next to the courtyard, the Jardin du Palais Royal. The garden is essentially placed around a central fountain. It is a quiet shelter in the heart of the city. Due to the construction of 60 arcaded buildings on three sides of the park by Louis-Philippe d'Orléans in 1874, the current garden is adslightly smaller than originally designed in 1630 for Cardinal Richelieu. The buildings around the garden are house restaurants, deli shops and galleries.