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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Petite Écurie de Versailles, built between 1679 and 1681 under the direction of architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart, is part of all the Écuries royales de l'École de Versailles, alongside the Grande Écurie. Under the Old Regime, it was placed under the authority of the First Squire and housed the school of the King's pages, reserved for the ancient nobility (proofs of nobility required since at least 1550). This place was responsible for the maintenance of ordinary mounts, horses, cars and sleds, while its Maréchalerie (1683–85), built back, completed its functions by replacing the King's modest stable, which became the Queen's stable.

Ranked a historic monument in 1929, the Petite Écurie had various uses: barracks of the École de l ́air (1935–1939), occupation by the Wehrmacht in 1940, and installation of the École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Versailles since 1969. Since 1999, it has also hosted the restoration workshops of the French Museum Research Centre. The Maréchalerie, classified in 1988, became in 2004 a centre of contemporary art, while a gypsum library (5,000 ancient moulds) has been open to the public since 2012, inheriting copies commissioned by Colbert from the residents of the Académie de France in Rome.

The architecture of the Petite Écurie, symmetrical with that of the Grande Écurie, organizes around five courtyards (including a large colonnade courtyard) and an ancient circular ride under rotunda. The facades, visible stone on the castle side and red brick elsewhere, present sculptures on the main gate. The galleries, vaulted and double level, contrast with the simplicity of the Great Ecurie. Today, the site combines historical heritage, teaching, restoration of works and exhibitions, while sheltering original statues of the Palace of Versailles being preserved.

Among the remarkable elements, the Gallery of Sculptures and Casts preserves graffiti of May 68 on plasters of Fine Arts, considered as historical traces. Since 2008, statues of the estate (such as Latone or the groups of the Baths of Apollo) have been protected, replaced in situ by copies. This place, at the same time royal stable, educational site and cultural pole, illustrates the evolution of the uses of the Versaille heritage since the seventeenth century.

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