We found the tennis court of François I

THE JEU DE PAUME TILE UNDER EXCAVATION. • DENIS GLIKSMAN, INRAP / PRESS SERVICE

A tennis court by François I ^st reappeared in the heart of one of the royal residences. Destined to become "International City of the French language", the castle of Villers-Cotterêts, located in the Aisne, is engaged in a major renovation campaign, and archaeologists intervene before the work. This former home of François I ^st was built in 1528 at the request of the king, who liked to hunt in the area.

It was in the chapel of this residence that the ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts was signed in 1539, which required that all administrative acts "be pronounced, published and notified to the parties in the French mother tongue, and not otherwise". That is, more in Latin. Property of the State since the Revolution, the castle was transformed in the 19 ^th century in a begging depot, then in a hospice, then in a retirement home, before becoming an Ehpad, closed six years ago. It had been abandoned ever since, the doors and windows walled up and the roof covered with sheet metal to prevent infiltration.

The royal residence was built on the site of a 12th ^th medieval castle century razed by order of François I ^st . Archaeologists from Inrap (National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research) excavated part of this fortress, including a square tower, and in the Uffizi courtyard, they unearthed the outbuildings of the medieval castle.

In the courtyard of the residence, they found a tennis court of François I ^st covering the surface of two tennis courts, with the terracotta paving of the tile and the traces of the galleries that housed the spectators. This ball game was known thanks to the plan of the architect Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau, it was used from the end of the 15th ^th at the beginning of the XVII ^th century. Of the five tennis courts that have been excavated in France, this is the oldest.

It should be noted that the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, has made Villers-Cotterêts the major project of his five-year term. The Cité internationale de la langue française should open in 2022.