1-344-028 - Art Media/Heritage Images

The Marly Machine, 18th century. Louis XIV of France had this machine constructed on the banks of the Seine to pump water from the river to his chateaux at Versailles and Marly. It was responsible for the gushing fountains and other water features at Versailles. The flow of the river was harnessed to turn 14 paddlewheels which then powered over 200 pumps which forced water up a network of pipes to an aqueduct at Louveciennes. This represented a vertical rise of 500 feet. The Marly machine was engineered by Arnold de Ville and built by Rennequin Sualem and is thought to have been the largest system of integrated machinery ever assembled at the time it was completed in 1684. Its construction had taken 30 years. The machine remained in use until 1817, after which it was rebuilt and modified.