[citation needed] Dourdan (Dordincum) developed during the Gallo-Roman period as an important center of production of ceramics.

General Auguste Jubé de La Perelle (1765–1824) died in Dourdan.

The Dourdan SNCF station is on the line going from Paris Gare d'Austerlitz to Vendôme and Châteaudun.

In 1428, during the Hundred Years' War, its upper part was badly damaged by the troops of the Earl of Salisbury, and it was not restored before the end of the 15th century.

In 1641, the asymmetric spires were constructed and, in 1689, the chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary (chapelle de la Vierge) was built, increasing the length of the building from 36 to 50 metres.

Built at the request of Philip II Augustus at the beginning of the 13th century in the place of a wooden fortress, it is characteristic of the military architecture of this period.

The castle is built on a square pattern, with towers at three of the corners and an isolated donjon at the fourth.

It is the typical of the donjons being built by Philip Augustus at this time (e.g. Rouen), and by French nobility through the 13th century.

Some figures who spent some time there include Jeanne II, Countess of Burgundy, and La Hire, friend of Joan of Arc.

This is an old Royal forest where the kings of France used to hunt, covering a surface of 17 square kilometres.