Domaine dit Désert de Retz

To make a day of it

Domaine dit Désert de Retz stands in Chambourcy (Yvelines), in the Île-de-France region of France. The building is listed as a historic monument (dating recorded in the Mérimée database: fourth quarter of the 18th century). Adult admission costs 10 EUR. Its opening hours and prices were verified at the source on September 5, 2026.

The Désert de Retz is a landscape garden laid out in the late eighteenth century by François Racine de Monville, an aristocrat with a passion for architecture and botany. Across the 17 hectares that survive today, visitors follow a path punctuated by unusual follies, a broken column, a temple, a Tartar tent, a ruined church, conceived as stages of a symbolic journey through antiquity, an imagined orient and Enlightenment thought. Long left to decay before being restored, the site can be visited on the edge of the Marly forest.

Written from Désert de Retz

What to know

• The grounds occupy wooded, uneven terrain, so visitors should expect to walk on natural paths.
• Seven follies remain from the roughly twenty originally built.
• The site has been a listed historic monument since 1941.
• Entry is free on the Sunday of the European Heritage Days.
• The visit takes place outdoors, so appropriate clothing for the season is advisable.

Practical information

Visit duration

90 min

Wheelchair access

Not accessible

Dogs

Not allowed

Parking

Free parking on site

the site is not suitable for people with reduced mobility or pushchairs

Where this château is

Chambourcy · Yvelines · Île-de-France

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This châteauChâteaux within 40 km

Address

All. Frédéric Passy, 78240 Chambourcy

Directions open from wherever you are, by car or public transport.

Get directionsView on a map

Château phone number

+33 1 39 22 31 31

CallCopy

The safest check before setting off: today’s hours, guided-tour availability, where to park.

4.3 / 5from 167 Google reviews

Heritage status

Listed historic monument (classé)

Mérimée record PA00087398

Period of construction

fourth quarter of the 18th century

Base map © IGN, Géoplateforme

In pictures

Sources

Identity, location and official references from Wikidata and the Mérimée register.

• This entry in Markdown
• Wikidata Q1270698
• Mérimée PA00087398
• Official website

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