Versailles (French pron. nearly Ver-si'), a city of France, capital of the dep. Seine-et-Oise, 11 miles SW. of Paris by rail. A city more of pleasure than of industry, it covers a large area in proportion to its population, and is remarkably regular. It is the see of a bishop, and contains a public library of 50,000 volumes, many palatial edifices, public fountains, spacious squares, and elm-planted avenues. Louis XIII. built here on the site of an old priory a hunting-lodge, afterwards extended into a chateau. Louis XIV. devoted enormous sums to its embellishment, or rather reconstruction, under the care of Mansard. Here was signed in 1783 the peace of Versailles between England and the United States. Versailles continued a court-residence down to the Revolution, which great event had its beginning here in the meeting of the States-general in May 1789. At this date the pop. was 100,000; the palace, its park, the perfection of formal landscape gardening, and its fountains have been the model of many capitals. Louis-Philippe transformed the palace of Louis XIV. into a museum. The most interesting pictures are those by David (illustrating Napoleon's career), Horace Vernet, Ary Scheffer, and Delacroix. From September 1870 till the conclusion of peace in 1871 Versailles was the German headquarters; there King William was proclaimed Emperor of Germany, and there the capitulation of Paris was signed. After the peace it was the seat of the government till 1879, and headquarters of the army during the Commune. Pop. (1876) 49,522; (1881) 48,324; (1901) 44,563.