A large protected estate
A witness to the art of gardens for three centuries
The national domain of Saint-Germain-en-Laye is located 20 minutes from Paris and offers 40 hectares of preserved spaces bordering a gigantic forest of 3500 hectares.
Adjacent to the former royal forest, the national domain of Saint-Germain-en-Laye offers a journey through the history of gardens. Moreover, this exceptional heritage area is managed in an ecological manner.
The national domain is inseparable from the château, which has become the national Archaeology museum, and is classified as a "remarkable garden". This popular walking area allows visitors to admire the French gardens designed by André Le Nôtre for Louis XIV or to stroll in the English garden created in the 19th century and home to several rare trees. The jewel in the crown is André Le Nôtre's Great Terrace, which offers a superb panorama of western Paris.
The park is classified as a historical monument since 1964.
The public is welcome all year round and the numerous events that take place there tend to make them aware of this heritage and natural legacy.
The domain seen from the sky by Jérémie Lippmann
Discover the history of gardens
The gardens of André Le Nôtre
In the early 1660s, the gardens of the royal residence of Saint-Germain-en-laye were in poor condition due to lack of maintenance. Louis XIV asked André Le Nôtre to restore them to their former glory. As always, the king's gardener worked wonders.
The English garden
The arrival of the railroad in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in the 1840s, was at the origin of the creation of the English garden. This romantic haven heralded the emergence of urban gardens in the 19th century.
The Great Terrace
The Great Terrace designed by André Le Nôtre in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, for Louis XIV, is one of his most beautiful creations. Today, it still offers a superb view of the Seine valley and the west of Paris.
The great basin
The grand basin is an integral part of Le Nôtre's 1663 project for the Grand Parterre : the idea was to decorate the north eatof the château (where the royal apartments were located) with the former grand jardin du roi, and to link it harmoniously to the rest of the estate.
The garden today
Adjacent to the former royal forest, the national estate of Saint-Germain-en-Laye offers a journey through the history of gardens. Moreover, this exceptional heritage area is managed in an ecological manner.
Biodiversity in the national domain
The gardeners want to offer walkers a haven of peace that respects our heritage by adopting an ecological approach.
For example, when pruning the estate's trees, one of the oaks was transformed into a nesting box for wildlife. Instead of we decided to give it a second life.
Archaeo-experimentation in the national domain
Discover plants cultivated in the Bronze Age
In 2025, the useum of national Archéology - National domain of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in partnership with the national institut of prevent archeology research (INRAP) and the Association for promotion and research on Bronze age (APRAB), will be presenting an exhibition dedicated to the Bronze age in France and Europe (2300 - 800 BC).
The exhibition will be held inside the museum and will extend to the Domain's gardens, which will be decked out in bronze colors throughout 2025.
The "remarkable garden" label testifies to the quality of certain gardens and the efforts made to present them to the public. It can be awarded to gardens that are protected as historic monuments or not.
