Open University of Versailles - 400th anniversary of the birth of Jean-Baptiste de la Quintinie: ‘Au fil de l'eau: hydraulic history of the King's Kitchen Garden’

Thursday 02 April 2026

18:30 to 20:00

Location : Université Ouverte de Versailles

Destination

6 impasse des Gendarmes - Entrée B

78000

Versailles

GPS coordinates

Latitude : 48.800427

Longitude : 2.13078

Event Organizer

Université Ouverte de Versaillles - 400ans de la naissance de Jean-Baptiste de l

Phone : +33 1 30 97 83 90

mail / message

"Université Ouverte de Versaillles - 400ans de la naissance de Jean-Baptiste de l"

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Location

Université Ouverte de Versailles

6 impasse des Gendarmes - Entrée B

78000

Versailles

Université Ouverte de Versailles

Presentation

The creation of the King's Kitchen Garden was a central part of the vast royal project to drain the marshy land below the Palace of Versailles.

This role was not only part of the design of the southern perspective of the gardens, whose architectural and symbolic language celebrates Flora and Pomona, but also part of the installation of a hydraulic network that was essential to the entire estate. From the Grand Carré basin to the wells supplying each garden to facilitate the watering of crops, the Potager's hydraulic installations formed a major link in the system that carried water from the hill of Satory to the Grand Canal. By tracing the evolution of this hydraulic network between the 17th and 21st centuries, this lecture will show how the King's Kitchen Garden combined technical innovation, aesthetics and production requirements, making water one of the guiding threads of its history.

By Daniella Malnar, historian of gardens and hydraulic networks, Fountains Department of the Palace of Versailles, and Chiara Santini, professor of garden and landscape history, École Nationale Supérieure de Paysage.