Prefecture des Yvelines (Hôtel de la Péfecture), Versailles

You can visit the Préfecture des Yvelines (Hôtel de la Préfecture) on guided tours or you can nip in on some excuse or other just to look around the main entrance.

The enormous three sided building was constructed between 1863 and 1866 on the former site of the Royal Kennels. It was commissioned by the Préfet Edouard Charton and built by Amédée Manuel. The figures on the triangular pediment above the main entrance represent La Seine and l’Oise; the two busts below represent Commerce and Industry.

The interior of the building is quite magnificent with ceiling frescoes by Ernest Gendron, Gaston Jobbé Duval and Dominique Guifard. The walls are bedecked with many important paintings, including naval battle scenes by Théodore Gudin and four paintings of the Four Seasons by Legray. There are also superb objets d’art including a fine statuette in Sevrès Porcelain by Louis-Simon Boizot.

During the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 the building was occupied by the forces of the Prussian king, who was crowned William 1st German Emperor in 1871 in the Hall of Mirrors at the Chateau of Versailles.

The newly crowned emperor and his army moved out and the building was then occupied by the 1st President of the 3rd Republic, Adolphe Thiers and his government during the Commune of Paris. His successor Patrice Mac Mahon also governed from here until 1875.

In 1880 it became the seat of the Préfecture of Seine-et-Oise, until it was taken over by the newly created Préfecture des Yvelines in 1968.