The Splendor of Versailles
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History of Versailles
In 1660, Louis XIV, who was approaching majority and the assumption of full royal
powers from the advisors who had governed France during his minority, was casting
about for a site near Paris but away from the tumults and diseases of the crowded
city. He had grown up in the disorders of the civil war between rival factions of
aristocrats called the Fronde and wanted a site where he could organize and
completely control a government of France by absolute personal rule. He settled on
the royal hunting lodge at Versailles, and over the following decades had it expanded
into the largest palace in Europe. Versailles is famous not only as a building, but as a
symbol of the system of absolute monarchy which Louis XIV espoused.
Versailles
• The Château de Versailles is one of the largest castles in the world .The
Chateau de Versailles has more than 2,000 windows, 700 rooms, 1250
fireplaces, 67 staircases and more than 1,800 acres of park. The paintings,
tapestries, sculptures and furniture of this fabulous castle, have been
executed by the best Italian and French artists of the time .
•
In 1623, King Louis XIII - father of Louis XIV , the Sun King , built a hunting
lodge, a little château of brick, stone, and slate . The king liked so much
this little castle in the middle of such a good hunting park, that he soon had
it enlarged by Philibert Le Roy.
The Sun King and Hall of Mirrors
• In 1682, the Château de
Versailles became the official
residence of the Sun King and his
Court , replacing the Louvre and
Saint-Germain Castles. When the
king moved into the Versailles
castle in 1682 ,before the
construction was finished, he
insisted that the castle was for the
people, and that his home be
open to one and all. Gates of the
Chateau stayed open all day long,
and guards only checked for guns
that could endanger the
king. From 1678 to 1684, the
terrace of the new chateau was
transformed into the Hall of
Mirrors, symbolizing the power of
the Sun
State Apartments
Versailles became the home of the
French nobility and the location of the
royal court - thus becoming the center
of French government. Louis XIV
himself lived there, and symbolically
the central room of the long extensive
symmetrical range of buildings was the
King's Bedchamber (La Chambre du
Roi), which itself was centered on the
lavish and symbolic state bed, set
behind a rich railing not unlike a
communion rail. All the power of
France emanated from this centre:
there were government offices here;
as well as the homes of thousands of
courtiers, their retinues and all the
attendant functionaries of court. By
requiring that nobles of a certain rank
and position spend time each year at
Versailles, Louis prevented them from
developing their own regional power at
the expense of his own and kept them
from countering his efforts to centralize
the French government in an absolute
monarchy.
Private Apartments
The Gardens
• Versailles' fabulous
gardens and park
are almost as spectacular
as the castle. Le Nôtre
designed this Versailles
garden including
fountains, jets, waterfalls,
statues, water parterres,
formal gardens, Grand
Perspective and Grand
Canal, to set off the
Castle's architecture.
Versailles Closes
• Financial difficulties and the
French Revolution stopped the
building works in the Versailles
Estate. The "King of the
French" Louis Philippe,
transformed in 1837 the
Chateau de Versailles in a
museum dedicated to "all the
glories of France". Chateau of
Versailles' history galleries are
the largest History Museum in
the world (18,000 square
meters) The history of France
is told through paintings and
sculptures. Many of them have
been commissioned for this
educational purpose to the
artists of the time.