Used by the kings of France from the 12th cen­tu­ry, the medieval roy­al hunt­ing lodge of Fontainebleau, stand­ing at the heart of a vast for­est in the Ile-de-France, was trans­formed, enlarged and embell­ished in the 16th cen­tu­ry by Fran­cois I, who want­ed to make a ‘New Rome‘ of it. Sur­round­ed by an immense park, the Ital­ianate palace com­bines Renais­sance and French artis­tic tra­di­tions.