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

The Salle du Jeu de Paume, famous since the French Revolution, can be visited at weekends near the Château de Versailles, to immerse yourself in history and discover a recently restored national treasure.

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 a visit and takes you right back 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.

The game of paume, the ancestor of today's tennis, was a popular sport in the 17th century, played in particular by princes and kings. The castles of the Louvre, Vincennes, Fontainebleau, Compiègne and Saint-Germain all had their own paume halls, but Versailles did not. Four years after the installation 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 finally entered the history books 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 again and deteriorated, before being restored between 2021 and 2022, thanks to funding from elected members of the Assemblée Nationale and private patrons. It can now be viewed as part of a guided tour of Versailles and the Republic, which takes visitors from the Salle du Congrès to the Salle du Jeu de Paume, for 10 euros.

To get there, you can take the RER C to Versailles Château Rive Gauche, the nearest station, or the N and U lines to Versailles-Chantiers.