Titre : On the old Sloping Garden at the Château-Neuf of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, sycamore maples draw a basin 

Auteurs : Ève GOLOMER,  

Revue : Archaeology, Society and Environment 

Numéro : Issue 1 

Volume : 4 

Date : 2025/05/9 

DOI : 10.21494/ISTE.OP.2025.1282 

ISSN : 2752-4507 

Résumé : A hydraulic system, built above the sixth terrace of the royal domain at the Château-Neuf of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, were highlighted among a grove of trees painted in the middle of the 17th century. The hypothesis is that the old Sloping Garden of this terrace planted with fruit trees, as described in archives, was likely to display some springs useful for their watering. This research supports the fact that at least one basin is being spotted both on oil on canvas and a notarized drawing. Over the centuries, decreasing water intake as well as low gardens’ maintenance on the north side, as noted for the springs of the fifth terrace, tree species growing there become wilder. It is likely that the proximity of the forest within the limit of the large Terrace of André Le Nôtre brought samaras, winged seeds of sycamore maples which then grew in a favourable biotope for them: namely on the slope of Le Pecq hill, in the park located in a private co-ownership. Currently, these trees turn out to be vegetal clues to attest this historic terrace. In that respect, a recent satellite view suggests the existence of a buried underground basin, in the area where young sycamore maples grew close together into a rounded shape as if they were to delineate this basin forming a barrier for their vigorous roots. Other nearby remains are being identified and may be connected to a possible formerly existing spring above this basin. 

Éditeur : ISTE OpenScience