Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Marly-le-Roi National Estate, located in Marly-le-Roi in the Yvelines, was conceived as a royal retreat for Louis XIV from 1679. The castle, entrusted to the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart, included thirteen pavilions organized around the king's, dedicated to the sun, with facades decorated with trompe-l'oeil and feigned sculptures. The central pavilion, completed in 1680, had a Greek cross plan and an octagonal salon with a dome. The estate was then enriched by offices, communes, stables (1687) and a chapel (1687-1689), while the River and Waterworks were created in 1697-1698. Under Louis XV and Louis XVI, redevelopments were undertaken, but the Revolution led to the looting and sale of the estate as a national good in 1799.

The estate was gradually demolished at the beginning of the 19th century under the First Empire, leaving only a few elements such as the waterworks, classified in 1862. Other parts were protected in 1928, and the entire estate was finally classified in 2009. Until 2009, he served as a presidential residence. Today, the park preserves the traces of the castle (tracked to the ground, alignments of trees), the drinking pot with its copies of the Horses of Marly, as well as royal gates and gates. The original sculptures are exhibited at the Louvre Museum, while the Musée du domaine royal de Marly traces its history, also evoking figures like Madame du Barry or artists like François Boucher.

Marly's machine, a hydraulic system supplying the Marly and Versailles basins, was located in Bougival. The park, sloping towards the Seine, extends between the forest of Marly and that of Louveciennes, separated by the road of Versailles. Among the notable remains are two tiled basins for carp, a bathhouse, and water castles built in the 20th century. The estate also served as a setting for films such as The Princess of Clèves (1961) or A People and His King (2018).

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