Versailles remained the epicenter of French royal power for more than a century, until , when an agitated group of revolutionaries stormed the palace and evicted Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. The mob sent the royal couple back to Paris, where they were eventually beheaded. While the French monarchs are long gone, Versailles remains a national icon.
Beginning in the 19th century, portions of the palace were opened to the public and converted into a museum. While the gardens and park remain accessible, the buildings are closed on Mondays. Some days are also busier than others, including Sundays and Tuesdays, when many Paris museums are closed. For a unique experience, plan your visit in July for Bastille Day celebrations , featuring pyrotechnics, fireworks, and historical figures.
Versailles is about 10 miles from Paris and easily accessible by car, taxi, bus, or train. All rights reserved. Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King due to his emblem of Apollo, built the luxurious property along an east-west axis to follow the rising sun. Share Tweet Email. She took over a building called the "Petit Trianon" and built a number of structures, including a working farm also called the "hamlet" , which provided the palace with fresh produce, and a nearby house and small theater.
She also built a "Temple of Love," which modern-day curators say can be seen from her room in the Petit Trianon. It features a dome propped up by nearly a dozen columns covering a statue, which shows a depiction of "Cupid cutting his bow from the club of Hercules," Bajou writes. Additionally, she built the charming "grotto," a cave that had a moss bed for Marie Antoinette to lie on. It had two entrances, prompting much speculation as to what went on in it. Though Marie Antoinette is known for her lavishness, in reality she did not always enjoy being queen.
Her estate reflects a desire for a simpler life and homesickness for her native Austria. In the Habsburg Empire, royalty was allotted a far greater sense of privacy and she had a remarkably "normal" upbringing," explained Schmidt. Once she had become Dauphine, her life was constantly in the spotlight.
Etiquette demanded that she dine before a seemingly never-ending crowd of spectators and getting dressed was a court ceremony in itself. Marie Antoinette attempted to break some etiquette rules but was opposed by the court and the French people. She built the Hamlet and took over the Petit Trianon so that she could escape the many watchful eyes and be herself.
It was an attempt to "recreate some of her dearly missed childhood. Two key events in the American Revolution happened at Versailles. Benjamin Franklin, acting on behalf of a newly independent United States, negotiated a treaty with Louis XVI, which led to America getting critical support from the French military. Spawforth notes that Louis XVI would have one of his inventions, a "Franklin chimney," installed that produced less smoke than an ordinary fireplace.
Several decades later, when King Louis Philippe reign was turning Versailles into a museum, he would include a painting that depicts the siege of Yorktown, a decisive victory in the Revolutionary War in which the Americans and French cooperated against the British.
America would reciprocate in the s when oil millionaire John D. Rockefeller Jr. The palace fell under the control of the new republican government. Many of its furnishings were sold to help pay for the subsequent Revolutionary Wars. When Napoleon came to power, he had an apartment created for himself in the Grand Trianon, complete with a map room.
I wonder if Le Petit Dauphin, or boy king, Louis de France, played in these gardens, and what he thought about being surrounded by such grandeur Chrissy S. Versailles Gilded in gold a visit to Versailles is nothing short of magnificent. The two day passport is the way to go and be sure to visit during a water show. Hannah Betterton. Beauty Incarnate Grandeur and elegance unite at the Palace of Versailles. Mythological ghosts from centuries past line the corridors where details of architectural splendor are inescapable.
Versailles, as magnificent as ever, remains a decadent window into the past. Karin Ward. It is so hard to capture Versaille in words. Then there is the village that they built for Marie Antoinette so that she could understand how the every day common French person lived during that time period. And the gardens are just simply immense! But if you do not have all day, tour the Hall of Mirrors, see the King's bedroom and see if you can take the tour that will allow you to see the internal theater where the King watched plays.
Andrea S. Where Marie Antoinette had Slumber Parties Versailles is known for its gilded halls, mirrors, chandeliers, endless tapestries etc. It would never return. Opening in , the museum celebrated glorious events in the history of France from the Middle Ages to the start of the July Monarchy. The king of the French wanted to be a reconciler; the major works he undertook in the Palace did away with former court spaces, but saved the building itself. The refurbishment continued after his departure, and Napoleon III went on to use the Palace as a venue for celebrations and to represent his power.
Here he received Queen Victoria for a sumptuous stay in The Palace had become an archetypal seat of power and continued to host the most important events in the history of France, such as the declaration of the German Empire, signed in following France's defeat at war by the Prussians. The Palace took a long time to recover Similarly, the Third Republic was born in Versailles, as the Parliament took refuge here after the Commune. Between and fifteen presidential elections were voted on by Parliament meeting in Versailles.
The arrival of a young curatorial assistant in , and his subsequent appointment as curator in , enabled the Palace to showcase its former role as royal residence. During the horrors of the First World War, Versailles suffered anew. The beginning of the 20th century was marked by the First World War, and Versailles also suffered during this conflict which forced the Palace to close and its works to be protected.
But, like Paris, Versailles was not invaded and, all in all, life continued. Even though at a slower rhythm, the museum collections grew and visitors arrived, though fewer than before. The Palace spent the war years mobilising support for the national effort and assisting the wounded and the families of soldiers as much as possible.
When it was chosen for the signing of the peace treaty in , Versailles once again became the centre of the world's attention. Recalling the humiliation of , the Allies had the Germans sign in the same place where the German Empire had been declared Despite this resurgence of attention, the Palace suffered a lack of maintenance for several years, due to a crippling shortage of money to renovate it, and it began to show its age.
Salvation came from across the Atlantic in the person of the billionaire John D. Rockefeller, who made two enormous donations to the Palace for its restoration. Recalling the involvement of France in the American War of Independence, the wealthy businessman inaugurated a custom of philanthropy and patronage that became indispensable for the proper functioning of the site. Thanks to him, Versailles regained its cosmopolitan character, and the entire political, artistic and cultural world rushed to tour it.
The terrible storm of devastated the park of Versailles — 10, trees were lost and the damage was estimated at million francs — but nevertheless allowed the possibility of restoring it to its original condition to be considered once again; the project had been started ten years earlier, after another storm, but had run up against resistance.
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