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As it is the the 22nd of March and thus Anniversaire de l'Empereur (Emperors Birthday), we welcome you to our post.

Æonis is proudly presenting its new imperial palace, the eyecatcher of the capital Lucrécy. It's somehow in a similar style as our former palace, as Steve loved the white-red style so much. It is 757 blocks wide (south to north), 249 blocks deep (east to west) and 142 blocks high, being by far the biggest building at the server (only rivaled by Sacré-Cœur de Lucrécy). Because of the enourmous measurements, building interior for the whole palace will last for ... well ... forever, thus we'll update this project regularly, showing the progress of the gardens and the interior.
Several other buildings are located in the palace gardens, such as the orangery palace, which will be posted later and seperated.

Palais Castaire (pronounciation: [​palɛ kastɛʁ]), located in the capital Lucrécy, is the largest palace complex in the known world and since 1742 the official residence of the Imperial Family Sacrecouronne.
The baroque building is recognized as the peak of esradonian palatial architecture und is often perceived as a symbol of absolute imperial power.

Originally planned as a monument of victory, the palace was heavily altered to fit the accommodations of its first residents, the later Empereur Steve I and his wife, Imperatrice Belle. Nowadays, the court is the centre of the Empereurs power, both political and cultural.

The site of the palace at the time of the construction of the capital was just a wide and flat area comprising a single spacious hill at the western part of the conceived city area, with direct access to the Violaine river. While the area remained unused for quite some time, it was already planned to eventually become the site for the palace. Under the reign of Nathanaël II, the area was used to build the current palace.

Belonging to the Sacrecouronne dynasty by law, the land was often used for special occasions such as military parades and speeches to the people. In times of war, the site was sometimes also used as kitchen garden, where the people planted potatoes, beans and other vegetables to provide food. The more western located area which was grown over with trees and luscious forests was used as hunting place for the local nobility. There were also several small hunting lodges of different owners located at the area now occupied by the imperial gardens.

Around this time, new plans were conceived for a more representative residence of the imperial family. As Baroque was the current building style, the older renaissance city castle was regarded to be fitting no more. Several architects were ordered to create plans for an imposing palace area, complete with landscaping and gardens, to be the envy of the other nations. These plans would rest for another 70 years because of financial shortages and other governmental plans. When in 1720 Stéphane was born as the new heir to the throne, his father Nathanaël II decided to finally revive the idea of a new palace. He got the old plans revised and expanded, so the construction could start in 1730. The framing was finished in 1732, while the gardens and landscaping were finished until 1736. The whole exterior was completed in early 1735. When in 1738 the war with Cantoras broke out, the works were nearly halted, and the interior design was only partially built until 1743. A major cause to this was that the Imperial Vaults were running out of money due to the war.



Nathanaël II quickly turned to his friend, the Grand Duc de Gardelegen and arranged a marriage of his second son Michel to Marcus’ daughter Catherine. Gardelegen provided an enourmous dowry for their princess, enabling the construction to continue. Nathanaël himself was, due to a severe illness and his sudden death in 1742, unable to move into the palace and never lived in what some might consider his greatest memorial. The newlywed couple Stéphane and Belle moved into the palace as soon as of their wedding in 1742, making the palace the official residence of the Sacrecouronne family.



With the war finally over and the economy slowly recovering from the struggle, the works on the interior of the northern wing continued. Stéphane found the original plans of the late architect Sieur Gabriel Vaucquelin not sufficient to represent the imperial splendour, power and majesty of the Sacrecouronne dynasty. While the private rooms were decorated in a more modest and less ornamental style, the state and ceremonial rooms had different requirements. They were planned to leave the visitors in awe and have them recognize their inferior position in regard to the imperial crown.



So Stéphane opened a competition for a complete redesign of the interior of the northern wing, including rooms for diplomatic negotiations, council meetings etc. The drafts sent in by the architects surpassed each other in an astounding spiral, each architect trying to create the most magnificent palace on Æonis. In the end, the design by a rather unknown architect named Charles Maxwell Garnier won. His designs were different from the more conservative drafts of his opponents, but were favoured by the impeccable taste of the imperial couple. The construction of the state appartments started soon after in 1745 and was finished in 1750.