Versailles (, ; ) is a commune in the department of the Yvelines, Île-de-France; it known worldwide for the Château de Versailles and the Gardens of Versailles, the latter of which is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Located in the western suburbs of the French capital, from the centre of Paris, Versailles is a wealthy suburb of Paris with a service-based economy and is a major tourist destination. As of 2023, the population of the city is 84,095, down from a peak of 94,145 in 1975. an expression used in medieval times for ploughed lands, cleared lands (lands that had been repeatedly "turned over"). This word formation is similar to Latin seminare ("to sow"), which gave French semailles ("sowings", "sown seeds").

During the Revolution of 1789, city officials had proposed to the convention to rename Versailles Berceau-de-la-Liberté ("Cradle of Liberty"), but they had to retract their proposal when confronted with the objections of the majority of the population.

A seat of power

thumb|The [[Hôtel de Ville, Versailles|Hôtel de Ville]]

From May 1682, when Louis XIV moved the court and government permanently to Versailles, until his death in September 1715, Versailles was the unofficial capital of the kingdom of France. For the next seven years, during the Régence of Philippe d'Orléans, the royal court of the young King Louis XV was the first in Paris, while the Regent governed from his Parisian residence, the Palais-Royal. Versailles was again the unofficial capital of France from June 1722, when Louis XV returned to Versailles, until October 1789, when a Parisian mob forced Louis XVI and the royal family to move to Paris. Versailles again became the unofficial capital of France from March 1871, when Adolphe Thiers' government took refuge in Versailles, fleeing the insurrection of the Paris Commune, until November 1879, when the newly elected government and parliament returned to Paris. During the various periods when government affairs were conducted from Versailles, Paris remained the official capital of France.

Versailles was made the préfecture of the Seine-et-Oise département at its inception in March 1790 (at which time Seine-et-Oise had approximately 420,000 inhabitants). By the 1960s, with the growth of the Paris suburbs, the Seine-et-Oise had reached more than 2 million inhabitants,

The Hôtel de Ville has been the meeting place of the town council since 1900.

Versailles is the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese (bishopric) which was created in 1790. The diocese of Versailles is subordinate to the archdiocese of Paris.

In 1975, Versailles was made the seat of a Court of Appeal whose jurisdiction covers the western suburbs of Paris.

Since 1972, Versailles has been the seat of one of France's 30 nationwide académies (districts) of the Ministry of National Education. The académie de Versailles, the largest of France's thirty académies by its number of pupils and students, is in charge of supervising all the elementary schools and high schools of the western suburbs of Paris.

Versailles is also an important node for the French army, a tradition going back to the monarchy with, for instance, the military camp of Satory and other institutions.

Geography

Versailles is located west-southwest from the centre of Paris. The city sits on an elevated plateau, above sea level (whereas the elevation of the centre of Paris is only above sea level), surrounded by wooded hills: in the north the forests of Marly and Fausses-Reposes, and in the south the forests of Satory and Meudon.

The city (commune) of Versailles has an area of , which is a quarter of the area of the city of Paris. In 1989, Versailles had a population density of , whereas Paris had a density of .

Born out of the will of a king, the city has a rational and symmetrical grid of streets. By the standards of the 18th century, Versailles was a very modern European city. Versailles was used as a model for the building of Washington, D.C., by Pierre Charles L'Enfant.

Climate

Versailles has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb). Summer days are usually warm and pleasant with average temperatures between , and a fair amount of sunshine. in the winter, sunshine is scarce; days are cool, and nights are cold but generally above freezing with low temperatures around . Light night frosts are however quite common, but the temperature seldom dips below . Snow falls every year, but rarely stays on the ground. The city sometimes sees light snow or flurries with or without accumulation.

History

The name of Versailles appears for the first time in a medieval document dated 1038. In the feudal system of medieval France, the lords of Versailles came directly under the king of France, with no intermediary overlords between them and the king; yet they were not very important lords. At the end of the 11th century castle and the Saint Julien church.

Its farming activity and its location on the road from Paris to Dreux and Normandy brought prosperity to the village, culminating in prosperity at the end of the 13th century, the so-called "century of Saint Louis", famous for the prosperity of northern France and the building of Gothic cathedrals. The 14th century brought the Black Death and the Hundred Years' War, and with them death and destruction. At the end of the Hundred Years' War in the 15th century, the village started to recover, with a population of only 100 inhabitants.

In 1561, Martial de Loménie, Secretary of State for Finances under King Charles IX, became the lord of Versailles. He obtained permission to establish four annual fairs and a weekly market on Thursdays. The population of Versailles then was 500 inhabitants. Martial de Loménie was murdered during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (24 August 1572). In 1575, Albert de Gondi, a man from Florence who had come to France with Catherine de' Medici, bought the seigneury of Versailles.

Louis XIII

thumb|upright|[[Louis XIII built the original hunting lodge that would become the Palace of Versailles under his son and successor Louis XIV]]

Henceforth Versailles was the possession of the Gondi family, a family of wealthy and influential parliamentarians at the Parlement of Paris. Several times during the 1610s, the de Gondis invited King Louis XIII to hunt in the large forests around Versailles. In 1622, the king purchased a parcel of forest for his private hunting. In 1624, he acquired more and entrusted Philibert Le Roy with the construction of a small hunting lodge of red bricks and stone with a slate roof. In 1632, the king bought the totality of the land and seigneury of Versailles from Jean-François de Gondi. The hunting lodge was enlarged to the size of a small château between 1632 and 1634.

At the death of Louis XIII, in 1643, the village had 1,000 inhabitants.

This small château was the site of one of the historical events that took place during the reign of Louis XIII, on 10 November 1630, when, on the Day of the Dupes, the party of the queen mother was defeated and Richelieu was confirmed as Prime Minister.

Louis XIV

King Louis XIV, son of Louis XIII, was only four years old when his father died. It was 20 years later, in 1661, when Louis XIV commenced his personal reign, that the young king showed interest in Versailles. The idea of leaving Paris, where, as a child, he had experienced first-hand the insurrection of the Fronde, had never left him. Louis XIV commissioned his architect Le Vau and his landscape architect Le Nôtre to transform the castle of his father, as well as the park, in order to accommodate the court. In 1678, after the Treaty of Nijmegen, the king decided that the court and the government would be established permanently in Versailles, which happened on 6 May 1682.

At the same time, a new city was emerging from the ground, resulting from an ingenious decree of the king dated 22 May 1671, whereby the king authorized anyone to acquire a lot in the new city for free. There were only two conditions to acquire a lot: 1- a token tax of 5 shillings (5 sols) per arpent of land should be paid every year ($0.03 per per year in 2005 US dollars); 2- a house should be built on the lot according to the plans and models established by the Surintendant des Bâtiments du Roi (architect in chief of the royal demesne). The plans provided for a city built symmetrically with respect to the Avenue de Paris (which starts from the entrance of the castle). The roofs of the buildings and houses of the new city were not to exceed the level of the Marble Courtyard, at the entrance of the castle (built above a hill dominating the city), so that the perspective from the windows of the castle would not be obstructed.

The old village and the Saint Julien church were demolished to make room for buildings housing the administrative services managing the daily life in the castle. On both sides of the Avenue de Paris were built the Notre-Dame neighbourhood and the Saint-Louis neighbourhood, with new large churches, markets, and aristocratic mansions, all built in a very homogeneous style according to the models established by the Surintendant des Bâtiments du Roi. Versailles was a vast construction site for many years. Little by little, all those who needed or desired to live close to the centre of power came to Versailles. At the death of the Sun King in 1715, the village of Versailles had turned into a city of approximately 30,000 inhabitants.

thumb|Versailles in 1789

Louis XV and Louis XVI

When the court of King Louis XV returned to Versailles in 1722, the city had 24,000 inhabitants. With the reign of Louis XV, Versailles grew even further. Versailles was the capital of the most powerful kingdom in Europe, and the whole of Europe admired its new architecture and design trends. Soon enough, the strict building rules decided under Louis XIV were not respected anymore, real estate speculation flourished, and the lots that had been given for free under Louis XIV were now on the market for hefty prices. By 1744, the population reached 37,000 inhabitants. The cityscape changed considerably under kings Louis XV and Louis XVI. Buildings were now taller. King Louis XV built a Ministry of War, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (where the Treaty of Paris (1783) ending the American Revolutionary War was signed in 1783 with the United Kingdom), and a Ministry of the Navy. By 1789, the population had reached 60,000 inhabitants, and Versailles was now the seventh or eighth-largest city in France, and one of the largest cities in Europe.

French Revolution

Seat of political power, Versailles naturally became the cradle of the French Revolution. The Estates-General met in Versailles on 5 May 1789. The members of the Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath on 20 June 1789, and the National Constituent Assembly abolished feudalism on 4 August 1789. Eventually, on 5 and 6 October 1789, a crowd of women joined by some members of the national guard from Paris invaded the castle to protest bread prices and forced the royal family to move to Paris. The National Constituent Assembly followed the king to Paris soon afterwards, and Versailles lost its role as the capital city. During this turbulent time, Jean-François Coste, who had also been the chief physician of the King's Armies, was appointed mayor of Versailles.

From then on, Versailles lost a good deal of its inhabitants. From 60,000, the population had declined to 26,974 inhabitants by 1806. as does the director Michel Gondry.

Significant portions of Marie Antoinette (2006 film), directed by Sofia Coppola, were filmed on location in Versailles.

Sport

Football Club de Versailles 78 is a semi-professional association football club founded in 1989. Their home stadium is the Stade de Montbauron, which has a capacity of 6,208 people.

Population

Immigration

Education

The headquarters of the Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University is located in the city, as well as the ISIPCA, a post-graduate school in perfume, cosmetics products, and food flavour formulation.

Transport

thumb|Rue Neuve Notre-Dame in Versailles

Versailles is served by Versailles-Chantiers station, which is an interchange station on Paris RER line C, on the Transilien La Défense suburban rail line, on the Transilien Paris-Montparnasse suburban rail line, and on several national rail lines, including low-frequency TGV service.

Versailles is served by two other stations on Paris RER line C: Versailles-Château–Rive Gauche (the closest station to the Palace of Versailles and consequently the station most frequently used by tourists) and Porchefontaine.

Versailles is also served by two stations on the Transilien Paris-Saint-Lazare suburban rail line: and .

Twin towns – sister cities

Versailles is twinned with:

  • Carthage, Tunisia
  • Gyeongju, South Korea
  • Nara, Japan
  • Potsdam, Germany
  • Taipei, Taiwan
  • Celbridge, Ireland

Notable people

  • Philip V of Spain (1683–1746), King of Spain
  • Charles-Michel de l'Épée (1712–1789), philanthropic educator
  • Louis-Augustin Richer (1740–1819), singer and composer
  • Louis-Alexandre Berthier (1753–1815), Marshal of the Empire
  • Lazare Hoche (1768–1797), general
  • Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry (1778–1820), prince of France
  • Ferdinand Marie de Lesseps(1805 –1894), diplomat
  • Yves Brayer (1907–1990), painter
  • Hélène Boucher (1908–1934), pilot
  • Albert Malbois (1915–2017), Roman Catholic bishop
  • Jean-François Lyotard (1924–1998), philosopher
  • Stéphane Audran (1932–2018), actress
  • Jean-Raymond Abrial (1938–2025), computer scientist
  • Joëlle Mélin (born 1950), politician
  • Boris Williams (born 1957), musician
  • Marine Jahan (born 1959), dancer
  • Bruno Podalydès (born 1961), writer, director, and actor
  • Michel Gondry (born 1963), film and music video director
  • Stéphane Franke (1964–2011), Franco-German athlete
  • Jean-Benoît Dunckel (born 1965), musician
  • Grégoire de Galzain (born 1971), racing driver
  • Mabrouk El Mechri (born 1976), director, screenwriter, and actor
  • Thomas Mars (born 1977), rock musician
  • Mory Correa (born 1979), basketball player
  • Arabelle Raphael (born 1989), pornographic film actress and artist
  • Hoshi (born 1996), singer and songwriter
  • Neal Maupay (born 1996), footballer

See also

  • Établissement public du château, du musée et du domaine national de Versailles
  • Potager du roi, Versailles

References

  • Official website
  • Wikimapia satellite view
  • City council website
  • Satellite Image of Versailles
  • Palace of Versailles photos