However, the specificity of the locality is that a little more than a third of its land, to the northeast, is occupied by the castle of Vaux-le-Vicomte and its vast park. To the northeast of the historic town of Maincy, it has had a profound impact on the history of the town, of which it remains the jewel. It is obviously to discover the castle of Vaux-le-Vicomte, its magnificent interiors and its gardens that , visitors are counted each year in Maincy inhabitants.
Don't forget, however, to stop in the village itself and discover the surrounding countryside. It was in that Nicolas Fouquet, via the fortune of his wife, acquired the lands of the seigneury of Vaux because of their strategic location, halfway between the royal castles of Vincennes and Fontainebleau.
Ambitious, he also appreciates at the same time becoming "viscount". Louis XIV had already entrusted them with the construction of two new wings in Vincennes and later, it was they who he would ask to build Versailles, drawing inspiration from the masterpiece of Vaux-le-Vicomte. The park and the formal gardens with their canalization system were completed in A year later, the foundations of the castle itself were finished and construction work was not long in coming: the masonry with white stones de Creil on the facade and bricks for the outbuildings and the frame were made in , and the roof was laid in From then on, the work of interior decoration began.
It was generally finished in when Louis XIV visited the places where Fouquet lived and where artists and writers like La Fontaine already frequented. Sentenced to life imprisonment, Fouquet was held in the prison of Pignerol near Turin where he died in In the meantime, the castle was seized. The furniture, works of art and crockery will soon be sold at auction and the castle will finally fall to the son… of Fouquet himself. However, some parts of the castle decor elements were moved to Versailles, whose architecture is largely inspired, but in greater proportions, by Vaux-le-Vicomte.
And for good reason, since the architect, the landscaper, the decorator are the same…. Nowadays, saved in the 19th century by the Sommier family, the estate has regained all of its original luster. Private property, it is the center of a real company that maintains the site and organizes visits and events throughout the year.
