List of capitals of France

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This is a chronological list of capitals of France.

• Tournai (before 486)
• Soissons (486-ca. 900)
• Paris (900-1419) The residence of the kings of France, but they were consecrated at Reims.
• Orléans (1108) One of the few consecrations of a French monarch to occur outside of Reims occurred at Orléans, when Louis VI the Fat was consecrated in Orléans Cathedral by Daimbert, archbishop of Sens and from 13 December 1560 to 31 January 1561, the French States-General met here.
• Troyes (1419–1422) For a short time during the Hundred Years' War, the town was the seat of the royal government.
• Bourges (1422–1444) Charles VII was forced to flee from Paris.
• Tours (1444—1527) Louis XI made château de Plessis-lez-Tours his residence.
• Paris (1528—1589) Francis I had established his court in Paris
• Tours (1589—1594) faction of parliamentarians, faithful to the king Henry IV sat at Tours.
• Paris( 1594—1682)
• Versailles (1682–1715) In 1682, Louis XIV made Versailles his residence and the seat of the French court.
• Paris(1715–1722)
• Versailles(1722–1789) On October 5 and 6, 1789, a throng from Paris invaded the castle and forced the royal family to move back to Paris. The National Constituent Assembly followed the king to Paris soon afterward, and Versailles lost its role of capital city.
• Paris (1789–present)

Provisional seats of the French government:

• Versailles (1871) The Third French Republic established Versailles as its provisional seat of government in March 1871 after the Paris Commune took control of Paris.
• Bordeaux (September 1914) The French government was relocated from Paris to Bordeaux very briefly during World War I, when it was feared that Paris would soon fall into German hands. These fears were alleviated after the German Army was pushed back at the First Battle of the Marne
• Tours (10–13 June 1940) Tours served as the temporary capital of France during the Second World War after the government fled Paris due to the German advance.
• Bordeaux (June 1940) The French government was relocated from Paris to Tours then Bordeaux very briefly during World War II, when it became apparent that Paris would soon fall into German hands.
• Clermont-Ferrand (29 June 1940) The French government was relocated from Bordeaux to Clermont-Ferrand, during a single day, before going to Vichy, which had a larger hotel capacity.
• Vichy (1940-1944) The Parliament abolished the Third Republic here and replaced it with the French State.
• Brazzaville (1940-1943) With Metropolitan France under Axis powers rule, Brazzaville was announced as the seat of the Free France government.
• Algiers (1943-1944) was made the seat of Free France, to be closer to the war in Europe.