“In French mother tongue and not otherwise.” The Villers-Cotterêts ordinance, signed by François I in 1539, established French as the official language for all administrative acts. Almost five centuries later, Emmanuel Macron will have these words in mind when inaugurating the Cité internationale de la langue française on October 19. After three years of work, the “big presidential project” is nearing completion.
Announced in 2018 by Emmanuel Macron on the occasion of the International Day of La Francophonie, the Cité will take up residence in the former royal residence in the Renaissance style, completely renovated since 2020, for a budget of 185 million euros.
In total, the Cité will include 1,600 m2 of permanent and temporary exhibitions open to the public, as well as a 250-seat auditorium. Twelve residency workshops for artists, researchers and entrepreneurs from the Francophonie and a research and innovation laboratory on linguistic issues will also be included.
Project of national ambition, the renovation of the castle of Villers-Cotterêts must also allow the inhabitants of Villers-Cotterêts to benefit from a new opening of the city on the forest of Retz.
In Villers-Cotterêts, archaeological excavations explore the great hours of the Valois
La Cité must also host the Francophonie Summit to be held in France in the fall of 2024, said the Élysée.
