Sunday 16 August 2015

Le carré à la fontaine, tout beau tout neuf !

Carré à la Fontaine Versailles Saint Louis
Fountain square in Saint-Louis neighbourhood has been restored! There are now chairs to sit down on! In 1737, on the site originally proposed by his great-grandfather, Louis XV gave permission do a couple of merchants, J. Bully and C. Bruneteau, to construct some sheds to accomodate the stalls of a new market. The sheds were arranged in quadrangles but the market failed to attract customers and after 1755, the sheds were gradually converted into dwellings. This is fountain square, which gets its name from the former reservoir that can be seen there (the building in the second photo). This structure, which was put up in 1766 by engineer Pluyette, was dug during the reign of Louis XIV, received water from the far end of Avenue de Sceaux and supplied the neighbourhood's fountains. It is currently occupied by the municipal department responsible for protecting ancient habitat. (Text slightly adapted from Versailles' tourist info on St-Louis neighbourhood that anyone visiting Versailles should download!)

Maintenant il y a des chaises pour s'y installer ! A Saint-Louis, le carré à la fontaine tient son nom de l’ancien réservoir qu’on y voit (ici sur la seconde photo) : cette construction de 1766 due à l’ingénieur Pluyette recevait son eau de réservoirs creusés sous Louis XIV au bout de l’avenue de Sceaux et la distribuait aux fontaines du quartier. Le service municipal chargé de l’habitat ancien y est à présent installé (texte du guide "parcours historique Saint-Louis" qui peut être consulté en intégralité en cliquant sur le lien).
Carré à la fontaine Versailles

15 comments:

Unknown said...

I love the look of Fountain Square and you are having such wonderful blue skies at the moment...

Revrunner said...

I'm suddenly very grateful for water on tap. :-)

RedPat said...

There is so much history everywhere in your city, Ciel!

orvokki said...

Lovely photos. The square is beautiful and the top photo is great with these benches.

Siddhartha Joshi said...

Nice pictures, but I loved the history that you shared. History always makes things so much more interesting for me...

Revrunner said...

I'd be very appreciative of the chairs. :-)

Birdman said...

But no water fountain in the square? Interesting.

VP said...

Nicely restore also without a fountain, which wasn't there anyway. I can't understand why they placed there chairs and not benches...

Anonymous said...

Nice spot to sunbathe ;-)

Sharon said...

This kind of history makes my 1920's historic neighborhoods look rather young! The history in Europe always amazes me.

Loree said...

What a quaint-looking place. I wouldn't mind living in one of those houses.

EG CameraGirl said...

Nice to have seating where you can watch passersby!

PerthDailyPhoto said...

It still astounds me when I hear 'put up in 1766' Ciel, I love the history of Europe.

Wayne said...

What was once a shed is now a very expensive home. The cobblestones and benches are really nice. Is the reservoir still under the building?

William Kendall said...

I do like the look of the square, Ciel!