Skip the long lines & make the most of your visit to Versailles. Get priority entry. Exclusive access to the King's Private Apartments on our top rated tour to the Versailles
Search results
The palace, park, and gardens of Versailles around 1700, mapped by Nicolas de Fer and engraved by Charles Inselin. North is to the right. The estate of Versailles consists of the palace, the subsidiary buildings around it, and its park and gardens.
The main construction of Versailles took place in four campaigns between 1664 and 1710 Palace of Versailles, the building's evolution. The Palace of Versailles is a royal château in Versailles, Yvelines, in the Île-de-France region of France.
- Overview
- The palace
Palace of Versailles, former French royal residence and centre of government, now a national landmark. It is located in the city of Versailles, Yvelines département, Île-de-France région, northern France, 10 miles (16 km) west-southwest of Paris. As the centre of the French court, Versailles was one of the grandest theatres of European absolutism.
The original residence was primarily a hunting lodge and private retreat for Louis XIII (reigned 1610–43) and his family. In 1624 the king entrusted Jacques Lemercier with the construction of a château on the site. Its walls are preserved today as the exterior facade overlooking the Marble Court.
Under the guidance of Louis XIV (reigned 1643–1715), the residence was transformed (1661–1710) into an immense and extravagant complex surrounded by stylized French and English gardens. Every detail of its construction was intended to glorify the king. The additions were designed by such renowned architects as Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Robert de Cotte, and Louis Le Vau. Charles Le Brun oversaw the interior decoration. Landscape artist André Le Nôtre created symmetrical French gardens that included ornate fountains with “magically” still water, expressing the power of humanity—and, specifically, the king—over nature.
To the east of the palace is the Place d’Armes, a wide plaza that in the 21st century served mainly as a parking lot to accommodate the thousands of tourists who visited Versailles each day. In the centre of the Place d’Armes, facing the Avenue de Paris, is a bronze equestrian statue of Louis XIV. Originally located at the apex of the Court of Honour, the statue was relocated to the Place d’Armes in 2009 after an extensive restoration. To the west is the Gate of Honour, a gilded iron gate and stone balustrade that marks the main entrance to the palace complex. Beyond that lies the broad expanse of the Court of Honour, bounded on the north and south by the Ministers’ Wings, outbuildings constructed in the 1680s to house the king’s secretaries of state.
Britannica Quiz
World Heritage Sites in France Quiz
The Royal Gate, an elaborate gold leaf gate, separates the Court of Honour from the Royal Court at the location where the Louis XIV statue once stood. Unveiled in 2008, the Royal Gate partially re-creates a gate that was designed by Hardouin-Mansart in the 1680s and was destroyed during the French Revolution. Some art historians criticized the Royal Gate as a modern interpretation of the original rather than a true restoration, but it served an undeniably valuable role in directing visitor traffic. Flanking the Royal Court to the south is the Dufour Pavilion, while the Gabriel Pavilion lies to the north. Both areas were extensively remodeled in the 21st century to serve as visitor reception centres. Beyond the Royal Court is the Marble Court, so named for the distinctive black and white marble tiles that adorn the terrace floor. Dozens of marble busts, depicting Roman deities and emperors, adorn the facades overlooking the court, and the central buildings of the palace complex rise around it.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Likewise, it was in Versailles in November 1700 where he accepted the will of Charles II of Spain, which named his second grandson as king of Spain. When Louis XIV died his palace and estate were far from finished.
From 1682 to the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789, the Palace of Versailles housed the King and the entire French royal court, a total of some 3,000 residents, making it a symbol of the absolutism and decadence of the Ancien Regime in general, and the French monarchy in particular.
A day in the life of Louis XIV. Death of Louis XIV, 1715. The establishment of the Court and the seat of power in Versailles had been underway since 1677, when the works on the site were sped up and the king doubled up state services between Paris and Versailles.
The town developed around the 17th-century Palace of Versailles, built by Louis XIV, the principal residence of the kings of France and the seat of the government for more than 100 years. The first scenes of the French Revolution were enacted at the palace , whose gardens, the masterpiece of André Le Nôtre , have become part of the national ...
