Former site of French barracks

Former site of French barracks

The former site of the French barracks, located at No. 3, santiao, taijichang, Dongcheng District, Beijing, was originally the barracks of the French army stationed at the French Embassy in dongjiaomin lane.

Historical evolution

Before 1900, it was a residential area.

When the boxers besieged the embassy area in 1900, the houses were seriously damaged. On August 16, 1900, the Eight Power Allied forces occupied Beijing.

According to the seventh paragraph of the Treaty of Xin Chou signed in 1901, all countries can send troops to embassies and set up barracks. In addition to expanding the land for the Embassy in China, France also built Barracks at the abandoned residential sites north of the three roads of taijichang. It starts from Gaobi road in the East, ends at taijichang street in the West and ends at two taijichang streets in the north, covering an area of over 23000 square meters. In 2001, as a part of the "Dongjiaominxiang embassy complex", the former site of the French barracks was listed as the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

building structure

The general layout of the French barracks is symmetrical, and the gate is located in the north of the three roads of taijichang. After entering the gate, there is a two-story building on the left and right sides, and an independent villa style two-story officer building on the East and west sides of the training ground. The two two-story French army dormitories are located on both sides of the central axis of the barracks, followed by the canteen and other single-layer buildings, and some auxiliary buildings are located on the west side of the site. Today, the gate of the French barracks, the French army dormitory and the Southwest Military building are still preserved, and other buildings have been demolished. The French barracks gate is a variation of the single arch triumphal arch type, with narrow and high piers on both sides. The column body of the flat pilaster is brick heavy block stone type, and the square cone top is used above the eaves. The upper part of the central hole is a triangular wall, which is embedded with curved white stone and engraved with French. In front of the gate there is an open space about 50 meters long and 6 meters wide. The courtyard walls on both sides of the gate are open with pedestrian doors. The wall is laid with bricks to form a horizontal concave line. Now the gate has been transformed, not the original, the side wall is still the original. The main building of the French barracks is two soldiers' dormitories, about 10 meters apart. Each building has 14 rooms, with a width of about 52 meters and a depth of more than 12 meters. Three floors above the ground, brick and wood structure, using gray brick masonry. The bottom floor was originally a corridor, with flat pilasters in every two bays leading to the second floor. The bottom floor between the two pilasters is built with buttresses, and the bottom hole is a relatively gentle curve. The first and second floors are divided by the brick horizontal waistline, and the vertical bricks are built into small teeth. Each bay on the second floor is a double window, which is connected as a whole by the curve of the arch lintel on the window. Both sides of the interior corridor are the same rooms, and the staircase is on the East and west sides. The exterior of the building is in colonial architectural style. The roof is a Chinese style four slope roof, and the front and rear corridors are covered with eaves. The original building has been rebuilt according to its original appearance, but the corridor has been blocked, windows have been installed, and the interior has been redecorated. Now these two soldier dormitories are office buildings. The Southwest Military building, two floors up and down, is a brick and wood structure building with a north-south slope roof. On the south side, there is a corridor. On the south facade, there are Dougong shaped windows. The upper layer and the lower layer match each other. On the East and west sides of the lower layer, there are Dougong doors to enter the corridor on the first floor. On the east side, there are stairs to reach the second floor. The North facade is a brick wall with small Dougong windows, and the two ends of the building are brick buildings protruding to the north. The building still retains its original appearance. Only an iron ladder is built outside the south to lead to the second floor. The building is now a residential building.

Address: No.3, santiao, taijichang, Dongcheng District, Beijing

Longitude: 116.412889

Latitude: 39.904025