| Page Views: 351 Last Visit to Versailles: December, 2002 | Versailles ! by Lucky79 - last update: Mar 23, 2003 |
In 1682 Louis XIV and his court left Paris for the Château de Versailles (once his father's hunting lodge), urging his nobles (none too gently) to live with him and so effectively curtailing any plans of revolt. The palace the Sun King built was over 600 meters (2,000 feet) long and three stories high; at its peak, over 20,000 people lived here. The forests and grounds that surrounded the château were stocked with game, and the royal hunting expeditions took on mythic proportions. A century later, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette lived here in untold splendor until forced to vacate by revolutionaries in 1789. While some parts of the château are open to independent visitors, most of the interesting parts of the building are seen only on guided tours. The gardens are as grandiose as the château: over 80 hectares (nearly 200 acres) of carefully manicured lawns, fountains, artificial lakes, and floral displays. Hidden among the trees are the royal playhouses, the Petit Trianon and the Hameau. |
|  | In May 6, 1682, Versailles became the official residence of the Court of France, supplanting the palaces at the Louvre and Saint-Germain-en-Laye. From 1678 to 1684, meanwhile, the terrace of the new chateau was transformed into the Hall of Mirrors, symbolizing the power of the absolute monarch. Feverish building activity then gave birth to the North and South Wings, the Orangery, Stables, and Grand Lodgings; the vast construction site was headed by royal architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart. The last major feature built during the reign of Louis XIV, the Chapel Royal, was completed in 1710 by Robert de Cotte. |
Toward the end of the reign of Louis XV, around 1770, Jacques-Ange Gabriel built the Opera and began reworking all the facades on the chateau's town side. Only the right wing, which threatened to crumble, was executed. It strictly obeyed the rules of French classical architecture, as seen in its colonnaded pavilion. Inside, the grand staircase known as Grand Degré was begun in 1772, but only recently completed in 1985. A symmetrical pavilion on the other side of the courtyard, planned by Napoleon Ier, was finally erected in 1820. | | |
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alirom Sat Jun 7, 2003 15:14 UTC
...is nice and interresting...you are good!!!:) |
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