Paris1972-Versailles2003

I have been telling the world about this! I used to lived here and have many posts on the city and its monuments, This post again will be in my black and white series, no pictures. This is tracing a bit on the several stables for horses so much unique of the history of Versailles, thrown in there for you and me, Therefore , here is my tribute in this is the city of Versailles, part IX !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

The royal stables in Versailles are many even if only one or two are known to the general public, Let me tell you all, They were set up here since 1682 by Louis XIV facing the Château de Versailles at place d’Armes when architect Hardouin-Mansart divided the two buildings at the crossroad of 3 avenues, On the north side theGrande Ecurie (see post) or big stables even if it is the smallest of the two ! They house the horses that needed less space than the carriages, It gets the name from its director the Grand Ecuyer that was in charge of mounting horses more prestigious than that of the Petite Ecurie (see post) that had the one call Monsieur le Premier, They also, learned fencing and danse to make them gentlemen ,and from this effort was born the French high school of horse riding in the 18C, Today the académie du spectacle équestre created by Bartabas in 2003 continue the horse tradition in the royal stable of Versailles,(see post),

The écuries de la Reine or queen’s stables were at 5 rue Carnot built in 1672 from a design of Louis le Vau and given to the horses of the queen ten years later, and then again to the Dauphine, At the end of the courtyard it is open a small courtyard that communicates with the impasse des écuries with the rue de la Paroisse, On the right wing houses the carriages that you can see from rue Carnot, On the left wing was only developed by Marie Antoinette to increase the number of horses , During the French revolution it was turned into a prison and on September 9 1792 13 detainées were held from the riots in Paris, In the next 150 years the stables becomes barrack for different regiments when the horse was still essential to the army, The place was given to the Ministry of Justice in 1968 to house today the court of appeals,

The écuries de Monsieur at 10 rue Carnot with a plaque indicating that this was the brother of Louis XIV installed his horses, Nothing is left of the initial construction because the dukes of Orléans made rebuilt the buildings and the Duke of Chartres, future Philippe Egalité gave them up in 1791, killed in the guillotine on November 6 1793. He is the father of king of the French Louis-Philippe 1er, who saved the palace of Versailles,

The écuries du comte de Provence built for the horse of the countess du Barry at 19 avenue de Paris, The death of Louis XV put an en to the fortunes of the countess , The count of Provence brother of Louis XVI and later king himself as Louis XVIII buys this property to house the stables of the carriage horses , they have an architectura marvel as the repairs of the gate before the gate are pierced up to date and light up small stairs up to the right and to the left of the door, In the 19C the most prestigious military regiments are house here such as the red lancers of the imperial guard that were eliminated at Waterloo,

The écuries du comte d’Artois, brother of Louis XVI himself later king Charles X, the stables were built from 1773 later barracks housing 300 horses, were located at current 9 Ter rue Edouard Lefébvre, They were enlarge 10 years later but took time as builder was not paid, Today non existant , In November 1823, a royal prescription positioned a school for application of cavalry and a trumpet school there. These two schools were placed in the barracks of Artois, where they only remained one year: a new royal ordinance, of November 11, 1824, transferred the two schools to Saumur,(see post).

The écuries of the countess of Provence and Artois, The countess of Provence (Marie-Joséphine Louise Bénédicte de Savoie ), wife of Louis XVIII, married in 1771 was given a vast land on 55 rue d’Anjou to house the horses etc later used in the 19C to house a regiment of cavalry and later under the Restauration (1814-15) for the horse of the duchess of Angoulême,daughter of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Today it is a gendarmerie police barracks, The countess of Artois (Marie-Thérèse de Savoie ) wife of Charles X, on her marriage of 1772 was given the former mansion of the duke of La Vrilliére located by the current 29 rue du Maréchal Joffre,At the French revolution were house here 3 ceremonial wagons, 8 sedans, 3 caleches, two Germans with six -seater one convertible, two trainers, 7 chairs with carriers, 3 carts and a small garden caleche , Under the French revolution a cavalry regiment was house here with 200 horses, later became the barrack Denfert and since 1981 the high school lycée Jules Ferry,

The écuries des Gardes du Corps, or bodyguards stables under Louis XIV was held in the parc aux cerfs between the avenue de Sceaux and future avenue Royale, The horses and grooms were house here and the riders and officers in City housing at their charge,Later in 1730 the duke of Noailles governor of Versailles built the barrack that became the Cercle militaire de Croÿ which you can access by 30 avenue de Sceaux, The imposing portal gives to the rue Royale corner with rue du général Leclerc and built in 1778,

The chevau-Légers or light horses was a prestigious regiment of the king’s guard and house since 1741 at a mansion on avenue de Sceaux, There is a dead end that carries their name today, The space was found too small and were enlarge towards the rue du Général Leclerc and rue de Satory, The door was left open on this street with an elegant balcony at 17 wearing the arms of the light horses « sensere gigantes » or to feel the giants, meaning place on the hands of Jupiter, the king, to defeat the enemies,

The hôtel des Gens d’Armes at 6 avenue de Paris was another barrack that housed horses ; it was built for the king’s guards in 1735 and serve the army until 1908, Other equestrians site in the City of Versailles were the artillery barracks built in 1851 behind the Petite Ecurie and building of the Second Empire (Napoléon III) are still visible at the entrance to the hôtel Pullman 2bis avenue de Paris and the commercial gallery on the avenue du Général de Gaulle that carries the name of Manéges,(my oldest son worked here!) From here you can access La Maréchalerie former annex of the Petite Ecurie that house the personnel,farriers, and other stable services, Today it houses the Centre d’Art Contemporain attach to the national school of architecture of Versailles, itself house in a small part of the Petite Ecurie,

The drinking pond for horses at end of the rue Edouard Lefébvre reacing the avenue de Sceaux and square Francine was set up in end 18C to complement the one at 19 rue des Réservoirs near the Grille du Dragon of the palace, Built in 1735 , when the lake of Clagny was dry and the opening of the boulevard de la Reine in 1773 was found this to be a danger creating accidents, The drinking pond was moved to the area around boulevard du Roi, boulevard de la Reine, Rue de Mouchy, and rue d’Angivillier,It stayed until 1890,

The Bureau des coches is worth mentioning as all the the auberges of the City that were many in the monarchy had their stable for their horses or rent them out, The travel in coach betweenn Paris andVersailles needed a terminal that was house on the current rue Saint Simon between 1683 and 1734, Later it was moved to the avenue de Sceaux and finally to the avenue de Paris,

The hippodromes or racecourses of Versailles, when the others by Paris were not even in existance, A racecourse was created at rue de Satory under Louis Philippe I in 1836, The races were kept until the Second Empire of Napoléon III, The races were taken over by a firm in the neighborhood of Porchefontaine with its racecourse inaugurated on 1864 occupying the area between the rue Jean de La Fontaine, and rue Albert Sarraut which was then call rue des Tribunes, and was considered the most beautiful in France, However, its story ends with the war of 1870 even if the government was at Versailles between 1871 and 1879,

The Versailles tourist office on its heritage:  https://en.versailles-tourisme.com/versailles-royal-city.html

The city of Versailles on its history/heritage:  https://www.versailles.fr/65/decouvrir-versailles.htm

The Yvelines dept 78 tourist office on Versailles: https://www.destination-yvelines.fr/?s=&_search=versailles&_post_types=touristic_offer&_land_yvelines=versailles-soleil-des-yvelines

There you go folks, my beloved Versailles, worthy of France and the world. This is a must coming to France and do see beyond the castle/domaine. If you have , considered yourselves lucky and cherished it. I will always have my Versailles. Again, hope you enjoy this post on this is the city of Versailles, part IX !!! as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!