Photo : Moonik / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Domaine national de Marly
To escape the ceremony of Versailles, Louis XIV had Jules Hardouin-Mansart build at Marly a pleasure château surrounded by twelve pavilions for his guests, amid spectacular water gardens fed by the famous Marly machine. The château was demolished at the beginning of the 19th century, but the park, managed by the Versailles public establishment, retains its great tree-lined avenues, the outline of the buildings on the ground and the ponds.
Below, the horse pond is topped by copies of the Marly Horses, whose originals are in the Louvre. The Museum of the Royal Domain of Marly, at the park entrance, presents models, paintings and objects evoking court life under Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI. The walk continues into the neighbouring state forest.
