Site of a convent school near Versailles, founded by Madame de Maintenon in 1686 for young ladies from impoverished noble families. Racine's Esther and Athalie were written for performance by the pupils.
In 1808 the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, an officers' training college comparable to the British Sandhurst, was established in the former convent.




