FONTAINEBLEAU, a town of northern France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Seine-et-Marne, 37 m. S.E. of Paris by rail. Pop. (1931) 12,542. It stands in the forest of Fontainebleau, nearly 2 m. from the left bank of the Seine. The Tambour mansion, and a portion of the cardinal of Ferrara's house, both of the 16th century, are still preserved. Fontaine bleau is the seat of a subprefect and has a tribunal of first instance. It has quarries of sand and sandstone, saw-mills, and manufactories of porcelain and gloves. It is a summer resort, and the president of the Republic frequently resides in the palace, one of the largest of the royal residences of France, situated to the south-east of the town. The exact origin of the palace and of its name (Lat. Fons Bleaudi) are unknown, but the older château was used in the latter part of the 12th century by Louis VII. Francis I. caused most of the buildings of the Cour Ovale to be erected. After Francis I., Fontainebleau owes most to Henry IV., Louis XIII., Napoleon I., Louis XVIII., Louis Philippe and Napoleon III. The park covers about 200 acres and is traversed by a canal dating from the reign of Henry IV. On the north it is bordered by a vinery producing white grapes.
The forest of Fontainebleau is one of the most beautiful wooded tracts in France, and has been for generations the haunt of land scape painters. It covers 42,200 ac., with a circumference of 56 m. Nearly a quarter of this area is of a rocky nature, and the quarries of sandstone supplied a large part of the paving of Paris. Oak, pine, beech, hornbeam and birch are the chief trees.
See Pfnor, Monographie de Fontainebleau, with text by Champollion Figeac (1866) ; Guide artistique et historique an palais de Fontainebleau (1889) ; E. Bourges, Recherches sur Fontainebleau (Fontainebleau, 1896) ; E. Plouchart, Fontainebleau (1925) .