Saint-Germain-en-Laye was founded in 1020 when King
Robert the Pious (ruled 996–1031) founded a
convent on the site of the present Church of
Saint-Germain. The
Hôtel de Ville is a former private house dating from the second half of the 16th century. In 1688,
James II of England exiled himself to the city after being deposed from the throne in what has become known as the
Glorious Revolution. He spent the remainder of his days there, and died on 16 September 1701. Prior to the
French Revolution in 1789, it had been a royal town and the
Château de Saint-Germain the residence of numerous French monarchs. The old
château was constructed in 1348 by
King Charles V on the foundations of an old
castle (
château-fort) dating from 1238 in the time of
Saint Louis.
Francis I was responsible for its subsequent restoration. In 1862,
Napoleon III set up the
Musée des Antiquités Nationales in the erstwhile royal château. This museum has exhibits ranging from Paleolithic to Celtic times. The "
Dame de Brassempouy" sculpted on a mammoth's ivory tusk around 23,000 years ago is the most famous exhibit in the museum. Kings
Henry IV and
Louis XIII left their mark on the town.
Louis XIV was born in the château (the city's
coat of arms consequently shows a cradle and the date of his birth), and established Saint-Germain-en-Laye as his principal residence from 1661 to 1681. Louis XIV turned over the château to
James VII & II of Scotland and England after his exile from Britain after the
Glorious Revolution in 1688. James lived in the Château for 13 years, and his daughter
Louisa Maria Stuart was born in exile here in 1692. James II is buried in the parish church. Saint-Germain-en-Laye is famous for its long stone terrace built by
André Le Nôtre from 1669 to 1673. The terrace provides a view over the valley of the
Seine and, in the distance, Paris. During the
French Revolution, the name was changed along with many other places whose names held connotations of religion or royalty. Temporarily, Saint-Germain-en-Laye became
Montagne-du-Bon-Air. During his
reign,
Napoleon established his cavalry officers training school in the Château-Vieux. The
Treaty of Saint-Germain was signed in 1919 and was applied on 16 July 1920. The treaty officially registered the breakup of the
Habsburg empire, which recognized the independence of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, and the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Yugoslavia). In 1880, the town saw the erection of a statue of
Adolphe Thiers, responsible for the massacre of the
Paris Commune. The following year, this statue was targeted by the
Thiers statue bombing, where a "French Revolutionary Committee", probably an
anarchist group, failed to destroy the statue. It has been called "the most occupied city in France." On 1 January 2019, the former commune
Fourqueux was merged into Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
Saint-Germain parish church The parish church, which is dedicated to
Germain of Paris, was originally constructed in the eleventh century, and the present building (the fourth on the site) was built in the 1820s in a
Neoclassical style, with six
Tuscan columns supporting a
pediment on the main façade. The church houses the mausoleum of
James II of England and was visited by
Queen Victoria in 1855. The organ, originally installed in 1698, was rebuilt by
Aristide Cavaillé-Coll in the nineteenth century and refurbished in 1903. The church's organists have included
Albert Renaud (1891–1924),
Albert Alain (1924–1971) and
Marie-Claire Alain (1971–2010). ==Population==