GFreihalter, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Versailles
Founded to accompany the building of Louis XIV's palace, Versailles developed on a rigorous geometric plan, with three broad avenues converging on the palace forecourt. Beyond the royal estate, the town keeps a rich urban heritage: the cathedral of Saint-Louis, built in the eighteenth century in a sober classical style, the Saint-Louis district with its mansions, and the Notre-Dame market, lively halls where one of the largest markets in Île-de-France has been held for centuries. Home to many courtiers and later civil servants, Versailles has kept an atmosphere both aristocratic and provincial, with quiet streets lined with eighteenth-century houses. The town now lives to the rhythm of international tourism while keeping an authentic neighbourhood life around its markets and old shops.
