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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Manège Buildings in Versailles were originally erected under Napoleon III as military infrastructure. In 1854, architect Charles-Auguste Questel designed an artillery barracks, whose main gate remains at 2bis, avenue de Paris. The following year, in 1855, a carousel at this barracks was built, with its own gate located on Avenue du Général-de-Gaulle. These constructions were part of a wider reassignment of the royal stables of Versailles to military uses, the Petite et la Grande Écurie already housing units of the army as early as 1850.

The two portals, emblematic of their first function, are distinguished by their decorations. The barracks have military motifs (canons, crowns, initials "LN" for Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte), while the gate of the more sober ride is decorated with a horse head. These architectural elements, as well as the back gate of the marshalry, were the only ones preserved during the 1988 demolition. This year marked the destruction of buildings to give way to the commercial and hotel complex "Les Manèges", inaugurated in 1991.

Ranked historic monuments by decree of 18 March 1988, the three preserved gates symbolize today the entrance of the site. The large gate of the barracks provides access to a luxury hotel, while that of the more modest ride marks the entrance of the commercial arcade, its tympanum bearing the sign "Les Manèges". Their preservation illustrates the transition between the Second Empire's military heritage and a contemporary economic reuse, while anchoring the place in the history of the Versaillaise.

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