Cathédrale Saint-Louis

The village church of Versailles, before construction of the castle was dedicated to St. Julien Brioude. This church was demolished in 1681. On its site was built the great common of the castle.

The Church of St. Julien was rebuilt in the new town. She also had an ephemeral existence. In 1684, Louis XIV laid the first stone of a new building: the parish of Our Lady who gave his name to the district. The inhabitants of old Versailles, Deer Park and surrounding streets, numbering about four thousand and fifty, no longer had any place of worship. Notre Dame was far away and its difficult access, as it was then crossing the parade to get there. When, in the late eighteenth century, this part of the city took the extension, the architects responsible for drawing up the plans did not fail to provide a church. From 1725, we had built at the corner of Satory and Anjou, near King's Yard, a temporary chapel longer than thirty feet, flanked by an aisle, surrounded by a cemetery. They began to bury in April 1727, to be baptized May 17, 1728. It was a branch of Notre Dame. It was served by two chaplains, priests of the Mission, such as the mother church. As the neighborhood grew, they had to think to give him religious autonomy.

By decree of Bishop of Ventimiglia, archbishop of Paris, dated June 4, 1730, the chapel was erected as a parish under the patronage of St. Louis. The inhabitants were forced to settle for this chapel for several years. Yet they were more numerous. Finally, around 1740, they resolved to build a real church. But it would not change the habits that the parishioners had taken. It was therefore decided that the monument would be built next to the chapel, and almost vis-à-vis. There was a vast place that seemed perfectly suited to this destination.