a town of France, in the department of Seine and Oise, 10 miles west-south-west of Paris. It contained 26,000 inhabitants in 1817, and since the Revolution has been created a bishop's see. In the reigns of Louis XIII., it was only a small village. This prince built here a hunting-lodge in 1620, which Bossom-pierre calls "the paltry chateau of Versailles." Although the situation was low and very unfavourable, Louis XIV. built a magnificent palace here, which was the usual residence of the kings of France till the 6th of October 1789, when the late unfortunate Louis XVI. and his family were removed from it to the Tuileries. The buildings and the gardens are adorned with a vast number of statues, done by the greatest masters, and the water-works are all worthy of admiration. The great gallery is thought to be as curious a piece of workmanship of that kind as any in the world; nor is the chapel less to be admired for its fine architecture and ornaments. The gardens, with the park, are five miles in circumference, and surrounded by walls. There are three fine avenues to Versailles; one of which is the common road to Paris, the other comes from Seaux, and the third from St Cloud. E. Long. 2. 12. N. Lat. 48.48.