Travel Guide Brunoy

Occupied since the Paleolithic era (between 1 million years and 8000 BC), during Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, Brunoy was quickly integrated into the French royal domain. But it was the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI that led the city to its apogee. In 1722, the guardian of the royal treasury, Jean-Paris de Monmartel, bought the medieval castle called "Grand Château". Mansart de Jouy enlarged it. In 1774, Louis XVI acceded to the throne. It was then that the Count of Provence, known as Monsieur le Frère du Roi, decided to buy Brunoy in order to get away from Versailles. The Grand Château not being to his taste, he added the Petit Château and the Château de Grosbois. Quite quickly, the appearance of the estate was profoundly modified by Chalgrin, Monsieur's architect. The Count of Provence received the court and Louis XVI for large parties and military parades. To mark the entrance to the estate, he had the Pyramid built. After several projects, an obelisk was finally built. Today, it still marks the entrance to the city and Brunoyens know it as the Pyramid. The Revolution put an end to this period of prestige, and the Grand Château was destroyed. From the beginning of the 19th century, the town welcomed new properties which were established in the middle of vast gardens, on the ruins of the old domain. The current plan of the city center still retains the imprint of this. Today, Brunoy has a little more than 26,000 inhabitants and is home to a beautiful architectural heritage: castle, island barn on the Yerres, mill, bridges...