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80-840: In the past, the group was composed of 30 members of the National Gendarmerie and 30 members of the National Police , commanded by a lieutenant colonel of the Gendarmerie or a Commissaire divisionnaire de Police , alternately in charge. Since 2019, the Director of the GSPR has been Georges Salinas of the National Police, assisted by colonel Benoît Ferrand of the National Gendarmerie. During

160-752: A Ministry of Foreign Affairs (where the Treaty of Paris (1783) ending the American Revolutionary War was signed in 1783 with the United Kingdom), and a Ministry of the Navy. By 1789, the population had reached 60,000 inhabitants, and Versailles was now the seventh or eighth-largest city in France, and one of the largest cities in Europe. Seat of political power, Versailles naturally became

240-649: A city built symmetrically with respect to the Avenue de Paris (which starts from the entrance of the castle). The roofs of the buildings and houses of the new city were not to exceed the level of the Marble Courtyard, at the entrance of the castle (built above a hill dominating the city), so that the perspective from the windows of the castle would not be obstructed. The old village and the Saint Julien church were demolished to make room for buildings housing

320-456: A fair amount of sunshine. in the winter, sunshine is scarce; days are cool, and nights are cold but generally above freezing with low temperatures around 3 °C (37 °F). Light night frosts are however quite common, but the temperature seldom dips below −5 °C (23 °F). Snow falls every year, but rarely stays on the ground. The city sometimes sees light snow or flurries with or without accumulation. The name of Versailles appears for

400-497: A lot in the new city for free. There were only two conditions to acquire a lot: 1- a token tax of 5 shillings ( 5 sols ) per arpent of land should be paid every year ($ 0.03 per 1,000 sq ft (93 m ) per year in 2005 US dollars); 2- a house should be built on the lot according to the plans and models established by the Surintendant des Bâtiments du Roi (architect in chief of the royal demesne). The plans provided for

480-593: A peak of 94,145 in 1975. A new town founded at the will of King Louis XIV , Versailles 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 as a royal city, it became the préfecture (regional capital) of the Seine-et-Oise département in 1790, then of Yvelines in 1968. It

560-607: A rotational basis in the French overseas territories. Other units deploy occasionally abroad alongside French troops engaged in military operations (called external operations or OPEX). The civilian tasks of the mobile gendarmerie are similar to those of the police units known as Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité (CRS), for which they are often mistaken. Easy ways to distinguish them include: The Mobile Gendarmerie includes Groupement Blindé de la Gendarmerie Nationale (GBGM), an armoured group of seven squadrons equipped with

640-538: A string of parliamentary elections, defeating the parties supporting a restoration of the monarchy, and the new majority decided to relocate the government to Paris in November 1879. Versailles then experienced a new population setback (48,324 inhabitants at the 1881 census). After that, Versailles never again functioned as the seat of the capital of France, but the presence of the French Parliament there in

720-533: A weekly market on Thursdays. The population of Versailles was 500 inhabitants. Martial de Loménie was murdered during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (24 August 1572). In 1575, Albert de Gondi , a man from Florence who had come to France with Catherine de' Medici , bought the seigneury of Versailles. Henceforth Versailles was the possession of the Gondi family , a family of wealthy and influential parliamentarians at

800-737: Is also a Roman Catholic diocese . Versailles is historically known for numerous treaties such as the Treaty of Paris , which ended the American Revolution , and the Treaty of Versailles , after World War I. Today, the Congress of France – the name given to the body created when both houses of the French Parliament , the National Assembly and the Senate , meet – gathers in the Château de Versailles to vote on revisions to

880-624: Is one of two national law enforcement forces of France , along with the National Police . The Gendarmerie is a branch of the French Armed Forces placed under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior , with additional duties from the Ministry of Armed Forces . Its responsibilities include policing smaller towns, suburbs and rural areas, crowd and riot control, and criminal investigation, including cybercrime . By contrast,

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960-468: Is organized in seven Regions of the Mobile Gendarmerie (one for each of the seven military regions of metropolitan France, called ( Zones de Défense ). It comprises 18 Groupements de Gendarmerie mobile (Groupings) featuring 109 squadrons for a total of approx. 11,300 personnel. Its main responsibilities are: Nearly 20% of the Mobile Gendarmerie squadrons are permanently deployed on

1040-567: Is served by Versailles-Chantiers station , which is an interchange station on Paris RER line C , on the Transilien La Défense suburban rail line, on the Transilien Paris-Montparnasse suburban rail line, and on several national rail lines, including low-frequency TGV service. Versailles is also served by two other stations on Paris RER line C: Versailles-Château–Rive Gauche (the closest station to

1120-561: Is still considered an immigrant in French statistics. On the other hand, persons born in France with foreign citizenship (the children of immigrants) are not listed as immigrants. The headquarters of the Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University is located in the city, as well as the ISIPCA , a post-graduate school in perfume, cosmetics products and food flavour formulation. Versailles

1200-508: Is the Palace , with its ornately decorated rooms and historic significance. The Potager du roi is a kitchen garden created under Louis XIV to supply fruits and vegetables to the Court. It is officially recognized as a Remarkable Garden of France . The town also has other points of cultural notability; in recent times, its position as an affluent suburb of Paris has meant that it forms a part of

1280-627: Is the military police of the French Army deployed outside metropolitan France. The functions of military police for the French Army on French soil are fulfilled by units of the Departmental Gendarmerie. GIGN ( Groupe d'intervention de la Gendarmerie nationale ) is one of the two premier counter-terror formations in France. Its counterpart within the National Police is the RAID . Operatives from both formations make up

1360-481: Is to secure the government's control over all the nuclear forces and weapons. The security of the civil nuclear powerplants and research establishments is provided by specialized units of the Departmental Gendarmerie. More specifically, the gendarmes of this unit are responsible for ensuring the protection and the readiness of the different kinds of missiles used by the French Navy and Air Force. In order to do so,

1440-536: The École des officiers de la gendarmerie nationale was established to train its officers. Five battles are remembered on the flag of the Gendarmerie: The National Gendarmerie is still sometimes referred to as the maréchaussée (being the old name for the service). The gendarmes are also occasionally called pandores , which is a slang term derived from an 18th-century Hungarian word for "frontier guards." The symbol of

1520-539: The Maréchaussée , with its armed and uniformed patrols, as royal soldiers with an oppressive role and so a symbol of foreign tyranny. On the eve of the 1789 French Revolution , the Maréchaussée numbered 3,660 men divided into small brigades (a "brigade" in this context being a squad of ten to twenty men). Their limited numbers and scattered deployment rendered the Maréchaussée ineffective in controlling

1600-477: The gendarmerie nationale . Its personnel remained unchanged, and the functions of the force remained much as before. However, from this point, the gendarmerie, unlike the Maréchaussée , became a fully militarized force. During the revolutionary period, the main force responsible for policing was the National Guard . Although the Maréchaussée had been the main police force of the ancien regime ,

1680-655: The rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré in Paris. Subsequently, special gendarmerie units were created within the Imperial Guard for combat duties in French occupied Spain. Following the Second Restoration of 1815, the gendarmerie was reduced in numbers to about 18,000 and reorganised into departmental legions. Under King Louis Phillippe a "gendarmerie of Africa" was created for service in Algeria and during

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1760-464: The Parlement of Paris. Several times during the 1610s, the de Gondis invited King Louis XIII to hunt in the large forests around Versailles. In 1622, the king purchased a parcel of forest for his private hunting. In 1624, he acquired more and entrusted Philibert Le Roy with the construction of a small hunting lodge of red bricks and stone with a slate roof. In 1632, the king bought the totality of

1840-577: The Berliet VXB-170 armored personnel carrier , known in the Gendarmerie as the Véhicule Blindé à Roues de la Gendarmerie (VBRG, "Gendarmerie armoured wheeled vehicle"). It is based at Versailles - Satory . The unit also specializes in CBRN defense . The Republican Guard is a ceremonial unit based in Paris. Their missions include: The non-metropolitan branches include units serving in

1920-411: The Château de Versailles and the gardens of Versailles , designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites . Located in the western suburbs of the French capital, 17.1 km (10.6 mi) from the centre of Paris , Versailles is a wealthy suburb of Paris with a service-based economy and is a major tourist destination. According to the 2017 census, the population of the city is 85,862 inhabitants, down from

2000-760: The Constable of France . The military policing responsibilities of the Marshal of France were delegated to the Marshal's provost , whose force was known as the Marshalcy because its authority ultimately derived from the Marshal. The Marshalcy dates back to the Hundred Years' War , with some historians tracing it back to the early 12th century. The second organisation, the Constabulary ( Connétablie ),

2080-524: The Constitution . The argument over the etymology of Versailles tends to privilege the Latin word versare , meaning "to keep turning, turn over and over", an expression used in medieval times for ploughed lands, cleared lands (lands that had been repeatedly "turned over"). This word formation is similar to Latin seminare ("to sow") which gave French semailles ("sowings", "sown seeds"). During

2160-533: The Revolution of 1789 , city officials had proposed to the convention to rename Versailles Berceau-de-la-Liberté ("Cradle of Liberty"), but they had to retract their proposal when confronted with the objections of the majority of the population. From May 1682, when Louis XIV moved the court and government permanently to Versailles, until his death in September 1715, Versailles was the unofficial capital of

2240-689: The Second Empire the Imperial Guard Gendarmerie Regiment was re-established. The majority of gendarmes continued in what was now the established role of the corps—serving in small, sedentary detachments as armed rural police. Under the Third Republic the ratio of foot to mounted gendarmes increased and the numbers directly incorporated in the French Army with a military police role reduced. In 1901,

2320-445: The departments from which the Departmental Gendarmerie derives its name. The Departmental Gendarmerie carries out the general public order duties in municipalities with a population of up to 20,000 citizens. When that limit is exceeded, the jurisdiction over the municipality is turned over to the National Police. It is divided into 13 metropolitan regions (including Corsica), themselves divided into groupements (one for each of

2400-542: The tricolour flag that had been adopted during the Revolution made the restoration of monarchy impossible for the time being. Versailles became again the political centre of France, full of buzz and rumours, with its population briefly peaking at 61,686 in 1872, matching the record level of population reached on the eve of the French Revolution 83 years earlier. Eventually, however, left-wing republicans won

2480-557: The " Great Fear " of July through August, 1789. During the revolutionary period , the Maréchaussée commanders generally placed themselves under the local constitutional authorities. Despite their connection with the king, they were therefore perceived as a force favoring the reforms of the French National Assembly . As a result, the Maréchaussée Royale was not disbanded but simply renamed as

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2560-542: The 100 département , thus the name), themselves divided into compagnies (one for each of the 342 arrondissements ). It maintains gendarmerie brigades throughout the rural parts of the territory. There are two kind of brigades: In addition, it has specialised units: In addition, the Gendarmerie runs a national criminal police institute ( Institut de recherche criminelle de la gendarmerie nationale ) specializing in supporting local units for difficult investigations. The research units may be called into action by

2640-596: The 1870s left a vast hall, built in one aisle of the palace, which the French Parliament uses when it meets in Congress to amend the French Constitution, as well as when the President of France addresses the two chambers of the French Parliament. Only in 1911 did Versailles definitely recover its level of population of 1789, with 60,458 inhabitants at the 1911 census. In 1919, at the end of

2720-412: The 1960s and 1970s, and somehow Versailles has become the main centre of the western suburbs of Paris. In the present times, the centre of the town has kept its very bourgeois atmosphere, while more middle-class neighbourhoods have developed around the train stations and on the outskirts of the city. Versailles is a chic suburb of Paris, well linked with the centre of Paris by several train lines. However,

2800-550: The Director General (DGGN) with the exception of the Republican Guard, which reports to the Île-de-France region. The Departmental Gendarmerie ( Gendarmerie Départementale ), also named «La Blanche» (The White) , is the most numerous part of the Gendarmerie, is in charge of policing small towns and rural areas. Its territorial divisions are based on the administrative divisions of France , particularly

2880-625: The First World War, Versailles came into the limelight again as the various treaties ending the war were signed in the castle proper and in the Grand Trianon . After 1919, as the suburbs of Paris continued to expand, Versailles was absorbed by the urban area of Paris and the city experienced a strong demographic and economic growth, turning it into a large suburban city of the metropolitan area of Paris. The role of Versailles as an administrative and judicial centre has been reinforced in

2960-442: The French army, a tradition going back to the monarchy with, for instance, the military camp of Satory and other institutions. Versailles is located 17.1 km (10.6 mi) west-southwest from the centre of Paris. The city sits on an elevated plateau, 130 to 140 metres (430 to 460 ft) above sea level (whereas the elevation of the centre of Paris is only 33 m (108 ft) above sea level), surrounded by wooded hills: in

3040-428: The French countryside to maintain law and order, while specialist units provided security for royal and strategic sites such as palaces and the mint (e.g., the garde de la prévôté de l'hôtel du roi and the prévôté des monnaies de Paris .) While its existence ensured the relative safety of French rural districts and roads, visitors from England, which had nothing but the not very effective parish constables , saw

3120-537: The French overseas départements and territories (such as the Gendarmerie of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon ), staff at the disposal of independent States for technical co-operation, Germany, security guards in French embassies and consulates abroad. The Air Gendarmerie ( Gendarmerie de l'Air ) is placed under the dual supervision of the Gendarmerie and the Air Force , it fulfills police and security missions in

3200-637: The GSAN is composed of its own units and of units from other branches of the gendarmerie, temporary placed under its command like squadrons of the Mobile Gendarmerie to protect the convoys of nuclear weapons components. For instance, a special security platoon can be deployed on board of the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to secure the nuclear weapons carried on the ship. The Provost Gendarmerie ( Gendarmerie prévôtale ), created in 2013,

3280-614: The Gendarmerie (DGGN) is appointed by the Council of Ministers , with the rank of Général d'Armée . The current Director-General is Général Christian Rodriguez who took office on November 1, 2019. The Director-General organizes the operation of the Gendarmerie at two levels: The Gendarmerie headquarters, called the Directorate-General of the National Gendarmerie ( Direction générale de la Gendarmerie nationale (DGGN)) ), long located in downtown Paris, relocated in 2012 to

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3360-506: The NATO unified command in 1966, nearby Rocquencourt functioned as the site for SHAPE . Versailles is an important military centre, with several units and training schools headquartered at the Satory military base, which hosted the headquarters of the famed 2nd French Armored Division until 1999, and where a military exhibition is organized annually. Versailles' primary cultural attraction

3440-564: The National Police is a civilian law enforcement agency that is in charge of policing cities and larger towns. Because of its military status, the Gendarmerie also fulfills a range of military and defence missions. The Gendarmerie has a strength of around 102,269 people (as of 2018). The Gendarmerie is the heir of the Maréchaussée , the oldest police force in France, dating back to the Middle Ages . The Gendarmerie has influenced

3520-576: The Paris artistic scene, and musical groups such as Phoenix , Air , Fuzati , and Daft Punk have some link to the city, as does the director Michel Gondry . Football Club de Versailles 78 is a semi-professional association football club founded in 1989. Their home stadium is the Stade de Montbauron, which has a capacity of 6,208 people. An immigrant is a person born in a foreign country not having French citizenship at birth. An immigrant may have acquired French citizenship since moving to France, but

3600-513: The Revolution, was left abandoned, with only Napoleon briefly staying one night there and then leaving the castle for good. Louis-Philippe , who took the throne in the July Revolution of 1830, transformed the palace into a National Museum dedicated to "all the glories of France" in 1837. Versailles had become a sleepy town, a place of pilgrimage for those nostalgic for the old monarchy. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 put Versailles in

3680-619: The administrative services managing the daily life in the castle. On both sides of the Avenue de Paris were built the Notre-Dame neighbourhood and the Saint-Louis neighbourhood, with new large churches, markets, and aristocratic mansions, all built in a very homogeneous style according to the models established by the Surintendant des Bâtiments du Roi . Versailles was a vast construction site for many years. Little by little came to Versailles all those who needed or desired to live close to

3760-551: The air bases, and goes on the site of an accident involving military aircraft. Placed under the dual supervision of the Gendarmerie and the Navy , its missions include: The Air Transport Gendarmerie ( Gendarmerie des Transports Aériens ) is placed under the dual supervision of the Gendarmerie and the direction of civilian aviation of the transportation ministry , its missions include: The Ordnance Gendarmerie ( Gendarmerie de l'Armement ) fulfills police and security missions in

3840-483: The castle of his father, as well as the park, in order to accommodate the court. In 1678, after the Treaty of Nijmegen , the king decided that the court and the government would be established permanently in Versailles, which happened on 6 May 1682. At the same time, a new city was emerging from the ground, resulting from an ingenious decree of the king dated 22 May 1671, whereby the king authorized anyone to acquire

3920-439: The city is extremely compartmentalized, divided by large avenues inherited from the monarchy which create the impression of several small cities ignoring each other. Versailles was never an industrial city, even though there are a few chemical and food-processing plants. Essentially, Versailles is a place of services, such as public administration, tourism, business congresses, and festivals. From 1951 until France's withdrawal from

4000-626: The cradle of the French Revolution . The Estates-General met in Versailles on 5 May 1789. The members of the Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath on 20 June 1789, and the National Constituent Assembly abolished feudalism on 4 August 1789. Eventually, on 5 and 6 October 1789, a crowd of women joined by some members of the national guard from Paris invaded the castle to protest bread prices and forced

4080-475: The culture and traditions of gendarmerie forces around the world, especially in independent countries from the former French colonial empire . The Gendarmerie is the direct descendant of the Maréchaussée ("Marshalcy") of the ancien regime . The Maréchaussée lasted from medieval times until the French Revolution. During the Middle Ages , there were two Grand Officers of the Kingdom of France with police responsibilities: The Marshal of France and

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4160-409: The establishments of the Délégation Générale pour l'Armement (France's defence procurement agency). The Nuclear ordnance security Gendarmerie ( Gendarmerie de la sécurité des armements nucléaires , GSAN) was created in 1964. It is directly subordinated to the Ministry of Armed Forces and plays a major role in the security chain of the nuclear devices. The main mission of this specific branch

4240-466: The first time in a medieval document dated 1038. In the feudal system of medieval France, the lords of Versailles came directly under the king of France, with no intermediary overlords between them and the king; yet they were not very important lords. At the end of the 11th century, the village curled around a medieval castle and the Saint Julien church. Its farming activity and its location on the road from Paris to Dreux and Normandy brought prosperity to

4320-401: The gendarmerie is a stylized grenade , which is also worn by the Italian Carabinieri and the Grenadier Guards in Britain. The budget in 2008 was approximately 7.7 billion euros . The equivalent Dutch force, Royal Marechaussee , uses officially the old French term—which King William I , when assuming power after the fall of Napoleon, considered preferable to "gendarmerie". In French,

4400-437: The gendarmerie was initially a full-time auxiliary to the National Guard militia. In 1791 the newly named gendarmerie nationale was grouped into 28 divisions, each commanded by a colonel responsible for three départements . In turn, two companies of gendarmes under the command of captains were based in each department. This territorial basis of organisation continued throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Under Napoléon,

4480-535: The judiciary even within cities (i.e. in the National Police's area of responsibility). As an example, the Paris research section of the Gendarmerie was in charge of the investigations into the vote-rigging allegations in the 5th district of Paris (see corruption scandals in the Paris region ). Gendarmes normally operate in uniform. They may operate in plainclothes only for specific missions and with their supervisors' authorisation. The Mobile Gendarmerie ( Gendarmerie Mobile ), also named La Jaune ("The Yellow"),

4560-415: The kingdom of France. For the next seven years, during the Régence of Philippe d' Orléans , the royal court of the young King Louis XV was the first in Paris, while the Regent governed from his Parisian residence, the Palais-Royal . Versailles was again the unofficial capital of France from June 1722, when Louis XV returned to Versailles, until October 1789 , when a Parisian mob forced Louis XVI and

4640-407: The land and seigneury of Versailles from Jean-François de Gondi . The hunting lodge was enlarged to the size of a small château between 1632 and 1634. At the death of Louis XIII, in 1643, the village had 1,000 inhabitants. This small château was the site of one of the historical events that took place during the reign of Louis XIII, on 10 November 1630, when, on the Day of the Dupes , the party of

4720-446: The limelight again. On 18 January 1871, the victorious Germans proclaimed the king of Prussia , Wilhelm I , emperor of Germany in the very Hall of Mirrors of the castle, in an attempt to take revenge for the conquests of Louis XIV two centuries earlier. Then in March of the same year, following the insurrection of the Paris Commune , the French Third Republic government under Thiers relocated to Versailles, and from there directed

4800-405: The line of duty. His remains are now buried under the monument to the gendarmerie in Versailles . Under King Francis I ( r.  1515–1547 ), the Maréchaussée was merged with the Constabulary . The resulting force was also known as the Maréchaussée , or, formally, the Constabulary and Marshalcy of France ( connétablie et maréchaussée de France ). Unlike the former constabulary,

4880-453: The maximum power. At the death of the Sun King in 1715, the village of Versailles had turned into a city of approximately 30,000 inhabitants. When the court of King Louis XV returned to Versailles in 1722, the city had 24,000 inhabitants. With the reign of Louis XV, Versailles grew even further. Versailles was the capital of the most powerful kingdom in Europe, and the whole of Europe admired its new architecture and design trends. Soon enough,

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4960-465: The military suppression of the insurrection. The government and the French parliament stayed in Versailles after the quelling of the Commune (May 1871), and it was even thought for some time that the capital of France would move definitely to Versailles in order to avoid the revolutionary mood of Paris in the future. Restoration of a monarchy almost occurred in 1873, with parliament offering the crown to Henri, comte de Chambord , but his refusal to accept

5040-484: The new Maréchaussée was not a fully militarized force. In 1720, the Maréchaussée was officially attached to the Household of the King ( Maison du Roi ), together with the gendarmerie of the time, which was not a police force at all, but a royal guard. During the eighteenth century, the marshalcy developed in two distinct areas: increasing numbers of Marshalcy Companies ( compagnies de marechaussée ), dispersed into small detachments, were stationed around

5120-421: The north the forests of Marly and Fausses-Reposes, and in the south the forests of Satory and Meudon . The city ( commune ) of Versailles has an area of 26.18 km (10.11 sq mi; 6,470 acres), which is a quarter of the area of the city of Paris. In 1989, Versailles had a population density of 3,344/km (8,660/sq mi), whereas Paris had a density of 20,696/km (53,600/sq mi). Born out of

5200-424: The numbers and responsibilities of the gendarmerie—renamed gendarmerie impériale —were expanded significantly. In contrast to the mounted Maréchaussée , the gendarmerie were both horse and foot personnel; in 1800, these numbered approximately 10,500 of the former and 4,500 of the later, respectively. In 1804 the first Inspector General of Gendarmerie was appointed and a general staff established—based out of

5280-454: The official capital of France. Versailles was made the préfecture of the Seine-et-Oise département at its inception in March 1790 (at which time Seine-et-Oise had approximately 420,000 inhabitants). By the 1960s, with the growth of the Paris suburbs, the Seine-et-Oise had reached more than 2 million inhabitants, and was deemed too large and ungovernable, and thus it was split into three départements in January 1968. Versailles

5360-425: The presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy , the unit was only composed of policemen from the Service de la protection and from the Recherche Assistance Intervention Dissuasion (RAID) unit. During his administration, the unit had 90 members because of higher threat levels. No Gendarmerie officers were selected to be in the unit as Sarkozy believed he should not be protected by the military. Gendarmerie officers came back to

5440-419: The protective detail of the French President (the GSPR ). Its missions include counter-terrorism , hostage rescue , surveillance of national threats, protection of government officials and targeting of organized crime. Versailles (city) Versailles ( French pronunciation: [vɛʁsɑj] ) is a commune in the department of the Yvelines , Île-de-France , renowned worldwide for

5520-519: The queen mother was defeated and Richelieu was confirmed as Prime minister. King Louis XIV , son of Louis XIII, was only four years old when his father died. It was 20 years later, in 1661, when Louis XIV commenced his personal reign, that the young king showed interest in Versailles. The idea of leaving Paris, where, as a child, he had experienced first-hand the insurrection of the Fronde , had never left him. Louis XIV commissioned his architect Le Vau and his landscape architect Le Nôtre to transform

5600-501: The royal family to move to Paris. The National Constituent Assembly followed the king to Paris soon afterwards, and Versailles lost its role as capital city. During this turbulent time, Jean-François Coste , who had also been the chief physician of the King's Armies, was appointed mayor of Versailles. From then on, Versailles lost a good deal of its inhabitants. From 60,000, the population had declined to 26,974 inhabitants by 1806. The castle, stripped of its furniture and ornaments during

5680-405: The royal family to move to Paris. Versailles again became the unofficial capital of France from March 1871, when Adolphe Thiers ' government took refuge in Versailles, fleeing the insurrection of the Paris Commune , until November 1879, when the newly elected government and parliament returned to Paris. During the various periods when government affairs were conducted from Versailles, Paris remained

5760-407: The southern suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux . The Directorate-General of the national gendarmerie includes: The main components of the organization are Departmental Gendarmerie, Mobile Gendarmerie, Republican Guard, Overseas Gendarmerie, five specialized Gendarmerie branches, Provost Gendarmerie and Intervention Group of the National Gendarmerie. The above-mentioned organizations report directly to

5840-403: The strict building rules decided under Louis XIV were not respected anymore, real estate speculation flourished, and the lots that had been given for free under Louis XIV were now on the market for hefty prices. By 1744, the population reached 37,000 inhabitants. The cityscape changed considerably under kings Louis XV and Louis XVI . Buildings were now taller. King Louis XV built a Ministry of War,

5920-557: The term "police" not only refers to the forces, but also to the general concept of "maintenance of law and order" (policing). The Gendarmerie's missions spans three categories: These missions include: The Gendarmerie, while remaining part of the French armed forces , has been attached to the Ministry of the Interior since 2009. Criminal investigations are run under the supervision of prosecutors or investigating magistrates . Gendarmerie members generally operate in uniform, and, only occasionally, in plainclothes. The Director-general of

6000-463: The unit after the election of François Hollande in 2012. In December 2012, there were about 20 gendarmes detached from the GIGN . The group has since then been composed of 60 members again. In addition to an extensive fleet, GSPR members are armed with the following weapons: National Gendarmerie The National Gendarmerie ( French : Gendarmerie nationale [ʒɑ̃daʁməʁi nɑsjɔnal] )

6080-722: The village, culminating at the end of the 13th century, the so-called "century of Saint Louis ", famous for the prosperity of northern France and the building of Gothic cathedrals. The 14th century brought the Black Death and the Hundred Years' War , and with it death and destruction. At the end of the Hundred Years' War in the 15th century, the village started to recover, with a population of only 100 inhabitants. In 1561, Martial de Loménie , secretary of state for finances under King Charles IX , became lord of Versailles. He obtained permission to establish four annual fairs and

6160-483: The western suburbs of Paris. Since 1972, Versailles has been the seat of one of France's 30 nationwide académies (districts) of the Ministry of National Education. The académie de Versailles , the largest of France's thirty académies by its number of pupils and students, is in charge of supervising all the elementary schools and high schools of the western suburbs of Paris. Versailles is also an important node for

6240-436: The will of a king, the city has a rational and symmetrical grid of streets. By the standards of the 18th century, Versailles was a very modern European city. Versailles was used as a model for the building of Washington, D.C. , by Pierre Charles L'Enfant . Versailles has an oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb ). Summer days are usually warm and pleasant with average temperatures between 15 and 25 °C (59 and 77 °F), and

6320-481: Was made the préfecture of the Yvelines département , the largest chunk of the former Seine-et-Oise . At the 2017 census the Yvelines had 1,438,266 inhabitants. Versailles is the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese (bishopric) which was created in 1790. The diocese of Versailles is subordinate to the archdiocese of Paris . In 1975, Versailles was made the seat of a Court of Appeal whose jurisdiction covers

6400-597: Was under the command of the Constable of France . The constabulary was regularised as a military body in 1337. In 1415 the Maréchaussée fought in the Battle of Agincourt and their commander, the Prévôt des Maréchaux (Provost of the Marshals), Gallois de Fougières, was killed in battle. This history was rediscovered in 1934, and Gallois de Fougières was then officially recorded as the first known gendarme to have died in

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