A guided tour of the Jeu de Paume room, a treasure trove of the French Revolution

If you come to Versailles to visit the Château and its magnificent grounds, don't forget to pay a visit to the nearby Salle du Jeu de Paume, which is well worth the detour and takes you back in time to the heart of the French Revolution. Since its restoration, this national treasure has been accessible only on guided tours at weekends. A true symbol of democracy, the Salle du Jeu de Paume saw the first version of our Constitution, drafted by the deputies of the Third Estate who took the oath there on June 20, 1789.

• To be read
• Tips for the week of April 29 - May 5, 2024 in Paris: free or inexpensive outings
• Free museums and monuments: places to visit this Sunday, May 5, 2024 in Paris
• Free Museums and Monuments to do in Paris and Ile-de-France, good ideas for outings

Jeu de la paume, the ancestor of today's tennis, was a popular sport in the 17th century, played by princes and kings alike. The castles of the Louvre, Vincennes, Fontainebleau, Compiègne and Saint-Germain all had their own paume halls, but not Versailles. Four years after the arrival of Louis XIV, a new hall was built for Nicolas Creté, the king's palmar player, close to the Château.

From a simple sports hall, the Salle du Jeu de Paume went down in history almost 100 years after its construction, to become the symbol of the French Revolution, no less. On June 20, 1789, the deputies of the Tiers État met there for the Estates-General, their usual meeting room having been closed by order of the King. They locked themselves in to give France its Constitution, a scene immortalized in an unfinished fresco by painter Jacques-Louis David.

Having become a temple dedicated to the memory of the abolition of the monarchy, it was disused and became national property in 1793, but due to a lack of maintenance, it was closed to the public five years later. It was used in turn as a theater, a painter's studio and a game room during the Second Empire, and was classified as a historic monument in 1848, before undergoing its first restoration in time for the centenary of the oath. In 1883, the Salle du Jeu de Paume became a museum of the French Revolution, adorned with statues and a monumental canvas.

It was subsequently forgotten and deteriorated, before being restored between 2021 and 2022, thanks to funding from elected members of the French National Assembly and private patrons. It can now be viewed as part of a guided tour of Versailles and the Republic, which takes you from the Salle du Congrès to the Salle du Jeu de Paume, for 10 euros.

To get there, you can take RER line C and get off at Versailles Château Rive Gauche, the nearest station, as well as lines N and U at Versailles-Chantiers.