• The
Château de Rambouillet, a former medieval fortress, was acquired by
Louis XVI in 1783 as a private residence because of its ideal situation in the game-rich forest of Rambouillet. It became a
bien national during the
French Revolution of 1789, and one of the imperial residences of
Napoléon I during the
First French Empire. At the time of the
Bourbon Restoration, the castle became a royal residence, and it is there that
Charles X signed his abdication on 2 August 1830. Sometimes neglected at times of political unrest, the château de Rambouillet became the official summer residence of the French
President of the Republic after President
Félix Faure chose it as summer residence for himself and his family in 1896; Rambouillet thus became the official summer residence of the Presidents of the
Third Republic and has retained its position ever since. • The
Palace of the King of Rome was erected in 1784, on a parcel adjacent to the gardens of the castle. Louis XVI had ordered the construction of the
Hôtel du Gouvernement, which was restored during the reign of Napoléon I, and renamed
Palais du Roi de Rome as the official Rambouillet residence of Napoleon's infant son
Napoleon II. Its entrance is situated in the rue Charles de Gaulle, Rambouillet's main street. • The
Hôtel de Ville, the former
Bailliage (Bailiwicks building) was built in 1787 at the request of Louis XVI to a design by the architect Jacques-Jean Thévenin. It was given by Napoléon I to the inhabitants of Rambouillet to serve as their town hall. The inscription over the doors of the City Hall reads "Donated to the inhabitants of Rambouillet by Napoleon the Great, [in the] Year 1809". • The new Church of Saint-Lubin was built between 1868 and 1871. Its architect was
Anatole de Baudot, a student of
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. • The Bergerie nationale was built on the grounds of the Domain of Rambouillet at the request of Louis XVI, and is the home of the
Rambouillet Merino sheep since 1786. • The Laiterie de la Reine, the ''Queen's Dairy'' also built on the grounds of the Domain of Rambouillet, is adjacent to the Bergerie. It was built in 1787 at the request of Louis XVI for his wife
Marie Antoinette and designed by the architect Jean-Jacques Thévenin. • The Chaumière des coquillages, a thatched-roof cottage with its marble interior decorated with shells and mother of pearl, was built in 1779–1780 in the English garden of the Domain of Rambouillet by Claude-Martin Goupy, the architect of the
duc de Penthièvre, for the
princesse de Lamballe, Penthièvre's widowed daughter-in-law. • The Musée Rambolitrain, situated across from the Saint-Lubin church, is a museum featuring miniature trains. We find a faithful reconstruction of a Parisian toy store of the 1930s. • The Médiathèque La Lanterne, situated across from the Saint-Lubin church and the Musée Rambolitrain, is a media library and a concert hall. Link • The Monument Américain (The American Eagle Monument), is situated at the south entrance of the town on the D 906 road to Chartres, at the site of two ambushes in which seven American soldiers were killed, on 16 August 1944. The monument was erected in 1947. It bears the inscription:
"À la mémoire des soldats américains tombés pour la libération de notre région en août 1944", "In memory of the American soldiers fallen for the liberation of our region in August 1944". The names of nine American soldiers are inscribed on a plaque on the monument. Commemorative ceremonies are held at the monument every 19 August. •
Goose Game Museum, a former museum in Rambouillet, dedicated to the
Game of the Goose. ==Notable people==