Commune of Versailles
Notre-Dame Church in the town centre of Versailles
Location
Location (in red) within outer suburbs
Coordinates	48°48′19″N, 2°8′6″E
Administration
Country	France
Region	Île-de-France
Department	Yvelines (préfecture)
Arrondissement	Versailles
Canton	Chief town of 3 cantons: Versailles-Nord Versailles-Nord-Ouest Versailles-Sud
Intercommunality	Communauté de communes du Grand Parc
Mayor	François de Mazières (2008-)
Statistics
Elevation	103 m–180 m (avg. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. Wikipedia talkFeatured lists for an explanation of this and other inclusion tags below -->This list of countries, arranged alphabetically This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. France is divided into 26 regions or régions (in French of which 21 are in continental Metropolitan France, one is the island of Corsica, Île-de-France ( pronounced /il d̪ə fʁɑ̃s/ literally "Island of France" is one of the twenty-six administrative regions of France. In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies a department (département depaʁtǝmɑ̃ is an Administrative division Yvelines is a French department in the region of Île-de-France. A prefecture ( préfecture) in France can refer to: the Chef-lieu de département, the town in which the administration of a ''département'' The 100 French departments are divided into 342 arrondissements, which may be translated into English as districts. The arrondissement of Versailles is an arrondissement of France located in the Yvelines département, in the Île-de-France The cantons of France are territorial subdivisions of the French Republic's 341 arrondissements and 100 departments. The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning "greater" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government The elevation of a Geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point often the mean sea level. 132 m)
Land area¹	26. 18 km²
Population² (Jan. As of January 1, 2008, 64473140 people live in the French Republic. 1, 2005 estimate) (March 8, 1999 census)	86,400 85,726
- Density	3,300/km² (2005)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	78646/ 78000
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0. Events 1618 - Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion. Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Population density (in agriculture standing stock and Standing crop) is a measurement of Population per unit area or unit volume The INSEE code is a numerical indexing code used by the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE to identify various entities including communes Postal codes were introduced in France in 1972, when La Poste introduced automated sorting. Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of 386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. An estuary is a semi-enclosed Coastal body of Water with one or more Rivers or Streams flowing into it and with a free connection to the open
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once. C D E

Versailles (pronounced [vɛʀsaj] in French), formerly de facto capital of the kingdom of France, is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and is still an important administrative and judicial center. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city The city (commune) of Versailles, located in the western suburbs of Paris, 17. The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. 1 km. (10. 6 miles) from the center of Paris, is the préfecture (capital) of the Yvelines département. In many countries Kilometre Zero (also written km 0) or similar terms in other languages is a particular location (often in the nation's capital city from which distances A prefecture ( préfecture) in France can refer to: the Chef-lieu de département, the town in which the administration of a ''département'' Yvelines is a French department in the region of Île-de-France. In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies a department (département depaʁtǝmɑ̃ is an Administrative division The population of the city according to 2005 estimates was 86,400 inhabitants, down from a peak of 94,145 inhabitants in 1975. Versailles is made world-famous by the Château de Versailles, from the forecourt of which the city has grown. The Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal Château in Versailles, in France 's Île-de-France region

Name

There are still doubts about the etymology of the name Versailles, but it seems the name comes from the Latin word versare, meaning "to keep turning over", and was used in medieval times for plowed lands, cleared lands (lands that had been repeatedly "turned over"). Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. This word formation seems similar to Latin seminare ("to sow") which gave French semailles ("sowings", "sown seeds"). French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people

During the French Revolution, the city was renamed Berceau-de-la-Liberté, meaning "Cradle of Liberty. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an "

A seat of power

Geography

Versailles is located 17. 1 km (10. 6 miles) west-southwest from the center of Paris (as the crow flies). In many countries Kilometre Zero (also written km 0) or similar terms in other languages is a particular location (often in the nation's capital city from which distances The city sits on an elevated plateau, 130 to 140 meters (425 to 460 ft) above sea-level (whereas the altitude of the center of Paris is only 33 m (108 ft) above sea level), surrounded by wooded hills: in the north the woods of Marly and Fausses-Reposes, and in the south the forests of Satory and Meudon. Marly-le-Roi is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. Meudon is a municipality in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France.

The city of Versailles (commune) has an area of 26. The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. 18 km² (10. 11 mile², or 6,469 acres), which is a quarter of the area of the city of Paris. In 1999, the city of Versailles had a population density of 3,275/km² (8,481/mile²), whereas the city of Paris had a density of 20,164/km² (52,225/mile²).

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

History

The name of Versailles appears for the first time in a medieval document dated A. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D D. 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. In the end of the 11th century the village curled around a medieval 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 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. Dreux is a town and commune in northwest France, in the Eure-et-Loir département. Normandy (Normandie Norman: Normaundie) is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. The 14th century brought the Black Plague and the Hundred Years' War, and with it death and destruction. The Black Death, or the Black Plague, was one of the deadliest Pandemics in human history widely thought to have been caused by a bacterium named Yersinia The Hundred Years' War (Guerre de Cent Ans was a prolonged conflict lasting from 1337 to 1453 between two royal houses for the French throne vacant with the extinction of the senior 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 lord of Versailles. Charles IX (27 June 1550 &ndash 30 May 1574 born Charles-Maximilien, was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death He obtained permission to establish four annual fairs and a weekly market on Thursdays. The population of Versailles was 500 inhabitants. Martial de Loménie was murdered during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (August 24, 1572). The St Bartholomew's Day massacre ( Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy in French) was a wave of Roman Catholic Mob violence against the Huguenots Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar 's General Gaius Scribonius Curio is defeated in the Second Battle of the Bagradas River In 1575 Albert de Gondi, a man from Florence who had come to France along with Catherine de' Medici, bought the seigneury of Versailles. Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany Catherine de' Medici (April 13 1519 &ndash January 5 1589 was born in Florence, Italy as Caterina Maria Romula di Lorenzo de' Medici. This article is about the medieval system "Manors" redirects here

Louis XIII

Louis XIII, the builder of the original Château at Versailles

Henceforth Versailles was the possession of the family of Gondi, a family of wealthy and influential parliamentarians at the Parlement of Paris. For the cognac see Louis XIII de Rémy Martin. Louis XIII ( September 27, 1601 – May 14, 1643) This article is for the Ancien Régime institution For the post-Revolutionary and present-day institution see French Parliament. Several times during the 1610s, the Gondi invited King Louis XIII to hunt in the large forests of Versailles. For the cognac see Louis XIII de Rémy Martin. Louis XIII ( September 27, 1601 – May 14, 1643) In 1622 the king became the owner of a piece of wood in Versailles for his private hunting. In 1624 he bought some land and ordered Philibert Le Roy to build there a small hunting "gentleman's chateau" of stone and red bricks with a slate roof.

This small manor was the site of the famous historical event called the Day of the Dupes, on November 10, 1630, when the party of the queen mother was defeated and Richelieu was confirmed as prime minister. Events 1444 - Battle of Varna: The crusading forces of King Vladislaus III of Varna (aka Ulaszlo I of Hungary and Wladyslaw This article is about a cardinal For information on the Russian also called The Red Eminence, see Mikhail Andreyevich Suslov. Eventually, in 1632, the king obtained the seigneury of Versailles altogether from the Gondi. The castle was enlarged between 1632 and 1634. At the death of Louis XIII in 1643 the village had 1,000 inhabitants.

Louis XIV

King Louis XIV, his son, was only five years old. Early years Birth and ancestry Louis XIV was born in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye on September 5 1638 and bore the Heir apparent Early years Birth and ancestry Louis XIV was born in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye on September 5 1638 and bore the Heir apparent It was only 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. La Fronde (1648–1653 was a Civil war in France, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635 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. Louis Le Vau (1612 – October 11 1670) was a French Classical Architect who worked for Louis XIV of France. André Le Nôtre ( March 12, 1613 &ndash September 15 1700) was a Landscape architect and the gardener of King Louis XIV 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 May 6, 1682. The Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen ( Négotiations de Nimegue or Négotiations de la Paix de Nimègue) were a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city Events 1527 - Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance.

At the same time, a new city was emerging from the ground, resulting from an ingenious decree of the king dated May 22, 1671, whereby the king authorized anyone to acquire a lot in the new city for free. Events 334 BC - The Greek army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus. 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 (in 2005 US dollars, that's $0. 03 per 1,000 sq ft (93 m²) per year); 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 Bâtiments du Roi (Buildings of the King was a division of Department of the household of the Kings of France (the " Maison du Roi " in 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 destroyed 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 neighborhood and the Saint-Louis neighborhood, with new large churches, markets, aristocratic mansions, buildings all built in 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 came to Versailles all those who needed or desired to live close to the political power. At the death of the Sun King in 1715, the village of Versailles had turned into a city of approximately 30,000 inhabitants.

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. Louis XV (15 February 1710 &ndash 10 May 1774 ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774 Louis XVI ( 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) Louis-Auguste de France, ruled as King of France and Navarre Louis XV (15 February 1710 &ndash 10 May 1774 ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774 With the reign of Louis XV, Versailles grew even further. Versailles was the capital of the most powerful kingdom of Europe, and the whole of Europe admired the new architecture and design trends coming from Versailles. 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. Louis XVI ( 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) Louis-Auguste de France, ruled as King of France and Navarre 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. The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, and approved by the Congress of the Confederation on January 14, 1784, formally In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located By 1789 the population had reached 60,000 inhabitants,^[1] and Versailles was now the seventh or eighth-largest city of France, and one of the largest cities of Europe.

French Republic

Seat of the political power, Versailles naturally became the cradle of the French Revolution. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an The Estates-General met in Versailles on May 5, 1789. The Estates-General (or States-General) of 1789 (Les États-Généraux de 1789 was the first meeting since 1614 of the French Estates-General Events 553 - The Second Council of Constantinople begins 1215 - Rebel Barons renounce their allegiance to King John Year 1789 ( MDCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The members of the Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath on June 20, 1789, and the National Constituent Assembly abolished feudalism on August 4, 1789. The Estates of the realm were the broad divisions of society usually distinguishing Nobility, Clergy, and Commoners recognized in the Middle Ages The Tennis Court Oath (serment du jeu de paume was a pivotal event during the French Revolution. Events 451 - Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius ' defeats Attila the Hun. Year 1789 ( MDCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The National Constituent Assembly (Assemblée nationale constituante was formed from the National Assembly on 9 July 1789, during the first stages of the Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed Events 70 - The Destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. Year 1789 ( MDCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Eventually, on October 5 and 6, 1789, a throng from Paris invaded the castle and forced the royal family to move back to Paris. Events 869 - The Fourth Council of Constantinople is convened to decide about what to do about Patriarch Photius of Constantinople The National Constituent Assembly followed the king to Paris soon afterwards, and Versailles lost its role of capital city.

From then on, Versailles lost a good deal of its inhabitants. From 60,000, the population declined to 26,974 inhabitants in 1806. ^[2] The castle, stripped of its furniture and ornaments during the Revolution, was left abandoned, with only Napoleon briefly staying one night there and then leaving the castle for good. Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. King Louis-Philippe saved the castle from total ruin by transforming it into a National Museum dedicated to "all the glories of France" in 1837. Louis Philippe ( 6 October 1773 &ndash 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the Versailles had become a sort of Sleeping Beauty. It was a place of pilgrimage for those nostalgic of the old monarchy.

19th to 21st Century

The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 put Versailles in the limelight again. The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War ( 19 July, 1870 — 10 May, 1871 On January 18, 1871 the victorious Germans proclaimed the king of Prussia, Wilhelm I, emperor of Germany in the very Hall of Mirrors of the castle, in an attempt to take revenge for the conquests of Louis XIV two centuries earlier. Events 350 - Generallus Magnentius deposes Roman Emperor Constans and proclaims himself Emperor Year 1871 ( MDCCCLXXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal Château in Versailles, in France 's Île-de-France region Then in March of the same year, following the insurrection of the Paris Commune the French government under Thiers relocated to Versailles, from where the insurrection was militarily quelled. The Paris Commune (La Commune de Paris was a Government that briefly ruled Paris from 18 March (more formally from 26 March) to 28 May The government and the French parliament stayed in Versailles after the quelling of the insurrection, and it was even thought for some time that the capital of France would be moved definitely to Versailles in order to avoid the revolutionary mood of Paris in the future.

Restoration of the monarchy was even almost realized in 1873 with Henri, comte de Chambord. Henri V of France and Navarre ( Henri Charles Ferdinand Marie Dieudonné d'Artois de France – September 29, 1820 – August 24, 1883 Versailles was again the political center of France, full of buzz and rumors, with its population briefly peaking at 61,686 in 1872,^[2] matching the record level of population reached on the eve of the French Revolution 83 years earlier. Eventually, however, as the left-wing republicans won elections after elections, the parties supporting a restoration of the monarchy were defeated and the new majority decided to relocate the government to Paris in November 1879, with Versailles experiencing a new population setback (48,324 inhabitants at the 1881 census). ^[2] After that, Versailles was never again used as the capital city of France, but the presence of the French Parliament there in the 1870s left a vast hall built in one aisle of the palace which is still used by the French Parliament when it meets in Congress to amend the French Constitution.

The palace in Versailles in the spring of 2006

It was not until 1911 that Versailles definitely recovered its level of population of 1789, with 60,458 inhabitants at the 1911 census. ^[2] In 1919, at the end of the First World War, Versailles was put in the limelight again as the various treaties ending the war were signed in the castle proper and in the Grand Trianon. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. The Grand Trianon was built in Versailles by Louis XIV, and it was designed to be a place where he and his close family could escape from the hectic life of court at the After 1919, as the suburbs of Paris were ever expanding, Versailles was absorbed by the urban area of Paris and the city experienced a strong demographic and economic growth, turning it into a large suburban city of the metropolitan area of Paris. The role of Versailles as an administrative and judicial center has been reinforced in the 1960s and 1970s, and somehow Versailles has become the main centre of the western suburbs of Paris.

The centre of the town has kept its very bourgeois atmosphere, while more middle-class neighborhoods have developed around the train stations and in the outskirts of the city. Versailles is a chic suburb of Paris well linked with the center of Paris by several train lines. However, the city is extremely compartmented, divided by large avenues inherited from the monarchy which create the impression of several small cities ignoring each other. Versailles was never an industrial city, even though there are a few chemical and food processing plants. Essentially, Versailles is a place of services, such as public administration, tourism, business congresses, and festivals.

Culture

Versailles' primary cultural attraction is, of course, the Palace, with its ornately decorated rooms and historic significance.

Demographics

Historical population

Immigration

Transportation

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. The RER C is one of the five lines in the RER Rapid transit system serving Paris, France Transilien La Défense is one of the sectors in the Paris Transilien suburban rail network Transilien Paris &ndash Montparnasse is one of the sectors in the Paris Transilien suburban rail network

Versailles is also served by two other stations on Paris RER line C: Versailles – Rive Gauche (the closest station to the Palace of Versailles) and Porchefontaine. The Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal Château in Versailles, in France 's Île-de-France region

Finally, Versailles is also served by two stations on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line: Versailles – Rive Droite and Montreuil. Transilien Paris &ndash Saint-Lazare is one of the sectors in the Paris Transilien suburban rail network

Sister Cities

• Taipei, Taiwan
• Canberra, Australia
• Pushkin, Russia

References

External links

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