The embassy, which was built from 1933 to 1939 and designed by architect Albert Laprade, is located in Ankara, in the Kavaklıdere neighborhood of district of Çankaya. The Palais de France in Istanbul is the seat of the former embassy until its transfer to Ankara in 1922.[1] Today, it remains the residence of the ambassador when they are in Istanbul.
The land where the current embassy is located includes a plot proposed by the Turkish government in 1928, in response to a promise made to foreign countries in 1923 to find a site to host future diplomatic representations in Ankara and no longer in Istanbul. The plot offered to the French, too small, was enlarged the following year thanks to the purchase of adjacent land which belonged to the writer and diplomat Yakup Kadri. The building began to accommodate embassy staff in 1937.
The Salon des Fêtes, used for receptions in winter, features, among other things, Louis XV-style furniture and a tapestry by Charles Le Brun which depicts a meeting between Louis XIV and Philip IV of Spain.
