The forest of Fontainebleau (, or , meaning, in old French, "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, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It is located primarily in the

arrondissement of Fontainebleau The arrondissement of Fontainebleau is an arrondissement of France in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region. It has 85 communes. Its population is 156,450 (2021), and its area is . Composition The communes of the arrondisse ...

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, th ...

, and even as far west as the town of Milly-la-Forêt in the neighboring department,

Essonne Essonne () is a department in the southern part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659, across 194 communes.communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

'' lie within the forest, notably the towns of

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...

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 The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

(around 12000 BC) and modern times. However, the majority of the carvings are from the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

(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 The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

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 bronze Celtic statuette called the God of Bouray was dredged up, 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 Régime ''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 {{disambig ...

. The castle was rebuilt from 1527 by François I, 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. At the time of

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

, less than 20 percent of the forest area was wooded.

Jean-Baptiste Colbert Jean-Baptiste Colbert (; 29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His lasting impact on the organization of the countr ...

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

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

Impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subjec ...

. The

Barbizon Barbizon () is a commune (town) in the Seine-et-Marne department in north-central France. It is located near the Fontainebleau Forest. Demographics The inhabitants are called ''Barbizonais''. Art history The Barbizon school of painters is n ...

painters, led by Théodore Rousseau, 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 Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

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, during the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

age, the area now occupied the Fontainebleau forest was a sea that deposited sediments of fine, white sand about fifty meters thick. 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 favored by

bouldering Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or Climbing wall, artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or Climbing harness, harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers ...

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 The forest floor, also called detritus or wikt:duff#Noun 2, duff, is the part of a forest ecosystem that mediates between the living, aboveground portion of the forest and the mineral soil, principally composed of dead and decaying plant matter ...

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 there any permanent sources of water. 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, flora, and funga

The most common trees in the forest are:

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

(44%),

Scots pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US), Baltic pine, or European red 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-gr ...

(40%), and

European beech ''Fagus sylvatica'', the European beech or common beech, is a large, graceful deciduous tree in the beech family with smooth silvery-gray bark, large leaf area, and a short trunk with low branches. Description ''Fagus sylvatica'' is a large ...

(10%). Three thousand species of

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

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'') * Service tree of Fontainebleau (''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. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

s ** Violet limodore ('' Limodorum abortivum'') ** Red helleborine (''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'') * Burnet rose ('' Rosa pimpinellifolia'') * Cranesbill (''Geranium sanguineum'') * Vincetoxicum ('' Vincetoxicum hirundinaria'') * Red feather clover (''

Trifolium Clovers, also called trefoils, are plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest diversity ...

rubens''), under national protection

Birds

Great spotted woodpecker The great spotted woodpecker (''Dendrocopos major'') is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head. This species is found acros ...

(''Dendrocopos major'') * Lesser spotted woodpecker (''Dendrocopos minor'') *

Great tit The great tit (''Parus major'') is a small 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 No ...

(''Parus major'') *

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

(''Parus caeruleus'') * Chiffchaff (''Phylloscopus collybita'') * Willow warbler (''Phylloscopus trochilus'') * Bonelli's warbler ('' Phylloscopus bonelli'') *

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

(''Sylvia atricapilla'')

Fictional and media depictions

* The painters of the Barbizon School found the forest a convenient location for their unadorned, realist depictions of nature. ** Works by Théodore Rousseau depicting the forest include '' The Forest of Fontainebleau: Morning'' * The forest is the main location of the trilogy '' Les Fourmis'' by Bernard Werber. * In the 1905 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 her husband Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in Lo ...

'' 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 an 1867 five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the 1787 play '' Don Karlos, 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'', where a duel takes place, is set in the forest of Fontainebleau. * Chapter 6 of the film serial ''

Les Vampires ''Les Vampires'' () is a 1915–1916 French Silent film, silent Crime film, 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 an ...

'' takes place in Fontainebleau Forest. * The map "Castle Rock" in the game '' Alliance of Valiant Arms'' takes place in the Fontainebleau Forest. * The Santalune Forest location in ''

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

'' 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 in fiction, time travel superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Phil Klemmer, ...

'' (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 made document ...

's autobiographical 1987 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. Théodore Rousseau, " Autumn at St. Jean de Paris, Forest of Fontainebleau, 1846"

References

External links

*
Fontainebleau, forêt d'émotions
Official webpage from Office National des Forêts (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