The forest of Fontainebleau (french: Forêt de Fontainebleau, or ''Forêt de Bière'', meaning "forest of heather") is a mixed deciduous forest lying southeast of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. It is located primarily in the arrondissement of Fontainebleau in the southwestern part of the department of

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...

. Most of it also lies in the canton of Fontainebleau, although parts of it extend into adjoining

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, t ...

, and even as far west as the town of

Milly-la-Forêt Milly-la-Forêt () is a commune in the Essonne department in the Île-de-France region in northern France. Geology The Forest of Fontainebleau, in the western end of which Milly-la-Forêt lies, is composed of the Oligocene Fontainebleau sands, ...

in the neighboring department,

Essonne Essonne () is a department of France in the southern Île-de-France region. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659 across 194 communes.communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

'' lie within the forest, notably the towns of Fontainebleau and Avon. The forest has an area of .

History

Gravure rupestre Boissy aux Cailles Seine et Marne

Forty thousand years ago, nomadic populations settled around the forest. Various traces of their presence have been discovered: carved stone tools, bones of such animals as bears, elephants, rhinos, giant stags. More than 2,000 caves with rock carvings are scattered across the forest. They are attributed to all periods between the Upper Paleolithic (around 12000 BC) and modern times. However, the majority of the carvings are from the Mesolithic (between 9000 and 5500 BC). They often take the form of geometric etchings (lattices), though some are figurative. The fourth century BC saw the arrival of Celt and Ligurian tribes. The Celtes settled the region in the fifth century BC. A Celtic necropolis was discovered in Cannes-Écluse, along with arms and auroch horns. Near Bouray (Seine-et-Oise), a bust of a Celtic god with stag legs was unearthed, while in Bossy-aux-Cailles, a Celtic tintinnabulum was discovered.^:89

A royal domain

Around the year 1000, the human occupation of the forest consisted of a series of enclaves controlled by petty lords and wealthy landowners. In 1067, Philippe I acquired the county of Gâtinais, which gave the crown control over the entire territory of the current forest. For the kings of France, the forest had several uses, including hunting and forestry, but also a military interest, as Fontainebleau was a strategic location on the road to Sens and Burgundy. In 1137, Louis VI began construction of a hunting castle consisting of a dungeon, moat and chapel. It is during this period that the first use of the word 'Fontainebleau' appears.^:34 Fontainebleau Avon Trudaine

In 1400, Charles VI initiated the first reform of forest policy; that is, he ordered the complete closure of the forest area for several months in order to verify the rights and uses of each user of the forest. This exceptional procedure was repeated many times under the

Ancien Regime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word fo ...

. The castle was rebuilt from 1527 by

François I Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once ...

, as a base from which to hunt "the red and black beasts" which abounded in the forest. At the time, the forest covered only 13,365 hectares, but the kings of France extended it through acquisitions and forfeitures. Also under François I, the office of Grand Forestier was created. He was responsible for officers and horse guards, each having the supervision and management of a canton of the forest. It was at this time, during the 16th century, that the administration responsible for managing the forest took shape. It retained this responsibility until the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. At the time of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

, less than 20% of the forest area was wooded. Jean-Baptiste Colbert launched a reform from June to September 1664 as well as a tree-planting campaign. In 1716, following the severe winter of the year 1709, 6,000 hectares were planted with deciduous trees, but this turned out to be an almost total failure. In 1750, the 90 km perimeter of the forest was delimited by 1050 boundary markers, some of which are still visible today. In 1786, Scots pines were introduced. After the Revolution, following numerous illegal cuts and the proliferation of game due to lack of hunting, Napoleon I reformed the forestry administration and that of the castle in 1807. In 1830, the planting of another 6,000 hectares of pine provoked the anger of artists who came to seek inspiration in the forest.

Creation of the world's first nature reserve

Auguste-Xavier_Leprince,_Painters_at_Rest,_Fontainebleau,_c

The Forest of Fontainebleau is famous worldwide for having inspired 19th-century artists, including painters of the

Barbizon School The Barbizon school of painters were part of an art movement towards Realism in art, which arose in the context of the dominant Romantic Movement of the time. The Barbizon school was active roughly from 1830 through 1870. It takes its name ...

and the

Impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

. The Barbizon painters, led by

Théodore Rousseau Étienne Pierre Théodore Rousseau (April 15, 1812December 22, 1867) was a French painter of the Barbizon school. Life Youth He was born in Paris, France in a bourgeois family. At first he received a basic level of training, but soon display ...

, militated against the planting of softwoods which had been carried out at a pace of several hundred hectares per year since 1830. They objected on the grounds that the plantings distorted the landscapes. The artists also opposed the planned regeneration cuts in old forests in 1837 and founded the Society of Friends of the Forest of Fontainebleau to protect it. In 1839, Claude-François Denecourt published his first forest guide and laid out the first paths in 1842. From 1849, the railway arrived in Fontainebleau, which enabled Parisians to visit Fontainebleau on day trips.^:65 This relatively easy access helped to create public support for the protection of the forest. At the request of the painters of the Barbizon School, hardwood cuts were suspended in certain cantons appreciated by artists. In 1853, "nature sanctuaries" covering over 624 hectares of old forests and rocky areas (Bas Bréau, Cuvier Châtillon, Franchard, Apremont, La Solle, Mont Chauvet) were withdrawn from wood harvesting. For the first time in France, concern for “the protection of nature” became one of the objectives of forest management. By the imperial decree of April 13, 1861, the “artistic reserve” was increased to 1,094 hectares and finally to 1,693 hectares from 1892 to 1904. The director general of forests, Henri Faré, explained that the setting aside of 1,600 hectares was tantamount to losing an income of 300,000 gold francs. However, the Forest of Fontainebleau thus became the first nature reserve in the world.

Geology

Thirty five million years ago, the area now occupied the Fontainebleau forest was a sea that deposited sediments of fine, white sand about fifty meters thick. The sands were deposited during the Oligocene age. This sand is one of the purest in the world and is used for glassware (Murano in Venice) and for optical fiber. The sand later formed the large banks of sandstone boulders – consisting of grains of quartz cemented by a silica gel – that characterise the current landscape of the forest. The boulders often have surprising shapes reminiscent of animals or objects and they are highly coveted by bouldering enthusiasts. The rocks occupy an area of nearly 4,000 hectares and form long banks of almost parallel boulders oriented East South-East, West North-West, and separated by open valleys at both ends. The forest floor contains up to 98% sand and is therefore very permeable. As a result, nowhere in the forest, except on the eastern slope between Veneux-Nadon and Samois-sur-Seine, are any sources of water available. The ponds come from the capture of rainwater in the depressions of the rocky plateaus, except in the vicinity of the pond at Les Evées where clay dominates.

Fauna and flora

The most common trees in the forest are:

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

(44%),

Scots pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orang ...

(40%), and

European beech ''Fagus sylvatica'', the European beech or common beech is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae. Description ''Fagus sylvatica'' is a large tree, capable of reaching heights of up to tall and trunk diameter, though more ...

(10%). Three thousand species of

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

s have been discovered. The forest is also home to approximately seven thousand animal species, five thousand of which are insects.

Flowers

Tor-grass ''Brachypodium pinnatum'', the heath false brome or tor-grass, is a species of grass with a widespread distribution in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It typically grows in calcareous grassland, and reaches tall. The flowerhead is ...

(''Brachypodium pinnatum'') *

Service tree of Fontainebleau ''Karpatiosorbus latifolia'' (the broad-leaved whitebeam or service tree of Fontainebleau; French: ''alisier de Fontainebleau'') is a species of whitebeam that is endemic to the area around Fontainebleau, south of Paris in France, where it has be ...

(''Sorbus latifolia''), which is under national protection * Snowy mespilus ('' Amelanchier ovalis''), under national protection * Common juniper (''

Juniperus communis ''Juniperus communis'', the common juniper, is a species of small tree or shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae. An evergreen conifer, it has the largest geographical range of any woody plant, with a circumpolar distribution throughout the coo ...

'') *

Orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowerin ...

s ** Violet limodore ('' Limodorum abortivum'') **

Red helleborine ''Cephalanthera rubra'', known as red helleborine, is an orchid found in Europe, North Africa and southwest Asia. Although reasonably common in parts of its range, this Cephalanthera has always been one of the rarest orchids in Britain. Descrip ...

(''Cephalanthera rubra''), under national protection * Meadow rue (''

Thalictrum minus ''Thalictrum minus'', known as lesser meadow-rue, is a perennial herb in the family Ranunculaceae that is native to Europe, Northwest Africa, Yemen, Ethiopia, South Africa, Southwest Asia, and Siberia. It grows on sand dunes, shingle, coastal roc ...

''), under national protection * Peach-leaved bellflower ('' Campanula persicifolia'') * Wild madder (''

Rubia peregrina ''Rubia peregrina'', the common wild madder, is a herbaceous perennial plant species belonging to the bedstraw and coffee family Rubiaceae. Etymology The genus name ''Rubia'' derives from the Latin ' meaning "red", as the roots of some species ...

'') * Burnet rose ('' Rosa pimpinellifolia'') *

Cranesbill ''Geranium'' is a genus of 422 species of annual, biennial, and perennial plants that are commonly known as geraniums or cranesbills. They are found throughout the temperate regions of the world and the mountains of the tropics, but mostly in ...

(''Geranium sanguineum'') * Vincetoxicum ('' Vincetoxicum hirundinaria'') * Red feather clover (''

Trifolium Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus ...

rubens''), under national protection

Birds

* Great spotted woodpecker (''Dendrocopos major'') *

Lesser spotted woodpecker The lesser spotted woodpecker (''Dryobates minor'') is a member of the woodpecker family Picidae. It was formerly assigned to the genus ''Dendrocopos'' (sometimes incorrectly spelt as ''Dendrocopus''). Some taxonomic authorities continue to list t ...

(''Dendrocopos minor'') *

Great tit The great tit (''Parus major'') is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and east across the Palearctic to the Amur River, south to parts of North Af ...

(''Parus major'') *

Blue tit The Eurasian blue tit (''Cyanistes caeruleus'') is a small passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae. It is easily recognisable by its blue and yellow plumage and small size. Eurasian blue tits, usually resident and non-migratory birds, ar ...

(''Parus caeruleus'') * Chiffchaff (''Phylloscopus collybita'') *

Willow warbler The willow warbler (''Phylloscopus trochilus'') is a very common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds throughout northern and temperate Europe and the Palearctic, from Ireland east to the Anadyr River basin in eastern Siberia. It is strong ...

(''Phylloscopus trochilus'') * Bonelli's warbler ('' Phylloscopus bonelli'') *

Blackcap The Eurasian blackcap (''Sylvia atricapilla''), usually known simply as the blackcap, is a common and widespread typical warbler. It has mainly olive-grey upperparts and pale grey underparts, and differences between the five subspecies are sm ...

(''Sylvia atricapilla'')

Fictional and media depictions

Théodore Rousseau (1812-1867) - The Forest of Fontainebleau, Morning - P283 - The Wallace Collection

* The painters of the

found the forest a convenient location for their unadorned, realist depictions of nature. ** Works by

depicting the forest include '' The Forest of Fontainebleau: Morning'' * The forest is the main location of the trilogy ''

Les Fourmis ''Les Fourmis'' (The Ants) trilogy is a three-part novel series by French novelist Bernard Werber. The novels *'' Les Fourmis'', Prix des lecteurs de Science et Avenir, 1991, . (lit. ''The Ants'', translated into English as ''Empire of the Ants'') ...

'' by Bernard Werber. * In the novel ''

The Scarlet Pimpernel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in London, having ...

'' by Baroness Orczy, Sir Percy and Margeurite St Just wander in this forest during the happy period of their courtship. * Act I (the prologue in the Italian version) of Verdi's opera, ''

Don Carlos ''Don Carlos'' is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the dramatic play '' Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Fried ...

'', is set in the forest of Fontainebleau. * A scene in the 1852 play ''

The Corsican Brothers ''The Corsican Brothers'' (french: Les Frères corses) is a novella by Alexandre Dumas, père, first published in 1844. It is the story of two conjoined brothers who, though separated at birth, can still feel each other's physical distress. It h ...

'', where a duel takes place, is set in the forest of Fontainebleau. * Chapter 6 of the film serial ''

Les Vampires ''Les Vampires'' is a 1915–16 French silent crime serial film written and directed by Louis Feuillade. Set in Paris, it stars Édouard Mathé, Musidora and Marcel Lévesque. The main characters are a journalist and his friend who become invol ...

'' takes place in Fontainebleau Forest. * The map "Castle Rock" in the game ''

Alliance of Valiant Arms ''Alliance of Valiant Arms'' (abbreviated as A.V.A, ko, 아바, translit=Aba, 简体中文：《战地之王》, 繁體中文：《戰地之王》) is a free-to-play online first-person shooter video game, developed by now-defunct Red Duck, Inc ...

'' takes place in the Fontainebleau Forest. * The Santalune Forest location in ''

Pokémon X and Y and are 2013 role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. They are the first installments in the sixth generation of the main ''Pokémon'' video game series. First a ...

'' is based loosely on Fontainebleau Forest. * DC's ''

Legends of Tomorrow ''DC's Legends of Tomorrow'', or simply ''Legends of Tomorrow'', is an American time travel superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Phil Klemmer, who are also executive producers a ...

'' (Season 2, episode 2) battle an enhanced Baron Krieger and several Nazis after the Waverider lands in the Fontainebleau Forest. *

Louis Malle Louis Marie Malle (; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a filmmaker difficult to pin down," Malle's filmogr ...

's autobiographical film, ''

Au Revoir Les Enfants ''Au revoir les enfants'' (, meaning "Goodbye, Children") is an autobiographical 1987 film written, produced and directed by Louis Malle. It is based on the actions of Père Jacques, a French priest and headmaster who attempted to shelter Jewish ...

'', was filmed and set in and around Fontainebleau.

Subzones

Jean de Paris

The hills of Jean de Paris are part of the forest "known for its stark plateaus and rough terrain". It was a popular theme for painters and photographers of the Barbizon School.

, " Autumn at St. Jean de Paris, Forest of Fontainebleau, 1846"

References

External links

*
Fontainebleau, forêt d'émotions
Official webpage from

Office National des Forêts The National Forests Office (french: Office national des forêts), or ONF, is a Government of France agency that manages the state forests, city forests and biological reserves. ONF is based in Paris. The office is responsible for the sustain ...

(in French) {{Authority control Geography of Seine-et-Marne Forests of France Biosphere reserves of France Tourist attractions in Île-de-France Tourist attractions in Seine-et-Marne Fontainebleau