Galerie de Diane

The Galerie de Diane (or Diane Gallery) is the longest room in Fontainebleau and was rebuilt during Napoleon I. Until then it had been decorated with references to the goddess Diana - the original decorations were carried out during Henri IV. Diana was the obvious choice because Fontainebleau was ideal for hunting and as the goddess of the hunt, the castle was considered to be Diana's domain. Louis-Philippe took advantage of the room's size and used it as a ball room. Ever since Napoleon III took over it has functioned as a library and as such is lined with bookcases - 16.000 books in total can be found in this room! Originally this was called the Queens Gallery because Henri IV had built it for his wife around 1600.
There is a large globe placed within the hall which was created for Napoleon I. The gallery measures 80 metres in length and 7 metres in width.