Musee l'orangrie

The building you are approaching was originally constructed in eighteen fifty-two to serve a strictly horticultural purpose. Commissioned by Napoleon the Third, it functioned as a winter shelter for the orange trees belonging to the Tuileries Palace, which needed to be protected from the bitter cold. Architect Firmin Bourgeois designed the structure with glass walls facing the Seine to capture as much sunlight as possible, while the opposite side remained largely windowless to block harsh, freezing winds. Before this building existed, the palace trees were stored in the overcrowded galleries of the Louvre.