City of Versailles, France

Friday 24th April 2015

Versailles is a city in the Yvelines département in Île-de-Franceregion, renowned worldwide for its château, the Château de Versailles and the gardens of Versailles, designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. A new town, founded by the will of King Louis XIV, it was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789, before becoming the cradle of the French Revolution. After having lost its status of royal city, it became the préfecture (regional capital) of Seine-et-Oise département in 1790, then of Yvelines in 1968, and a Roman Catholic diocese. Versailles is historically known for numerous treaties such as the Treaty of Paris (1783), which ended the American Revolutionary War and the Treaty of Versailles, after World War I.