Versailles’ history starts before the palace was built. It was first a small farming community with activities around the palace of Saint-Julien.

During the famous Hundred Years War, the place began to get quite populated and during Louis XIII’s time it flourished as it was mainly used as hunting grounds for the king. In 1670, Louis XIV was deciding that the royal families and all the French aristocracy to Versailles. This is how the village began to develop.

Once the king decided that, there were many buildings to construct. The king also ruled that no building should have more than three stories so that no building is bigger than the castle and that the castle is the central point of it all. The roads were also improved and the lightning system also. All was done to insure that the king has all that he and his family needed. The city began to undergo a tremendous transformation and historical sights such as Saint-Louis Cathedral or the Hotel des Menus Plaisirs appeared.

When the French Revolution happened, the royal family was moved in arrest in Paris and then executed. After that, for a century or so, Versailles was just a spot for the nostalgic nobles. In 1870, during a short war, the executive and the parliament were moved in the area. The World War One had an official ending because the paperwork made after that was named the Treaty of Versailles. In this moment, tourism moves the area and the town develops in a slow but steady pace.