Who was Mazarin?
The hotel takes its name from the famous European diplomat and Catholic Pontiff, Cardinal Jules Mazarin (1602-1661), a 17th century Italian-born statesman, gambler, aide- de -camp to French royalty, Machiavellian scholar, chief financial minister to Queen Anne, and a longtime Regent of France on behalf of Louis the XIV. A Renaissance man and collector of fine wines and wealth, he designed the Mazarin Diamond, one of the first forms of the brilliant cut. Cardinal Mazarin collected jewels, and was an avid reader and a man of acclaimed wit. His reputation, once sullied, became golden again and his spirit lives on in the new Hotel Mazarin.
