[104] This was the third time since 1848 that a French president addressed a joint session of the French Parliament at Versailles. The King wished a quiet place to relax away from the ceremony of the Court. The decoration includes several paintings set into the paneling, including a self-portrait of Antony Van Dyck.[62]. This may be editorializing, but I think Louis invented the state of modern tourism…. In 1780, she built a small theater at the Petit Trianon. Saule & Meyrer 2000, pp. The painting on the ceiling, The Apotheosis of Hercules, by François Lemoyne, was completed in 1736, and gave the room its name.[57][58]. [88], In the 1670s, Louis XIV had a magnificent five-room bath complex installed on the ground floor of the apartments belonging to his mistress, Madame de Montespan. Instead, it is the World’s Largest Royal Domain – largest ever space built for the Royals.

[61]. One of the most lavish was the banquet that he hosted for Queen Victoria in the Royal Opera of Versailles on August 25, 1855. It was destroyed in 1673 to make way for the new town Louis XIV wished to create. The chair required a whole staff to stand inside the chimney and lift the king to his lover’s nest.

[33] The museum project largely came to a halt when Louis Philippe was overthrown in 1848, though the paintings of French heroes and great battles still remain in the south wing.

111 25 March – 18 April to Sr. Lois and Sr. de Villers silversmiths who are working on a silver balustrade for the king, for continued work (two payments): 40,000 livres, II. For example, labour for construction was often low, due largely to the fact that the army during times of peace and during the winter, when wars were not waged, was pressed into action at Versailles. When the French revolution began, the rioters landed at the gates of the Palace. There’s also a weird, dark side to the palace: controversial treaties, ghost stories, and even time travel conspiracies have piqued an interest in Versailles in modern times. This technique is credited for the excellent acoustics of the opera house. The French Senate continues to meet in the Palace on special occasions, such as the amendment of the French Constitution. Home » Paris » Palace of Versailles facts – interesting and fun facts about Versailles. This article often employs shortened footnotes.

The rest of the façade is completed with columns, painted and gilded wrought-iron balconies and dozens of stone tables decorated with consoles holding marble busts of Roman emperors.

It replaced a botanical garden created by Louis XV, and consisted of twelve structures, ten of which still exist, in the style of villages in Normandy. Below the fireplace is a painting of Clio, the Muse of History, recording the exploits of the King. Corresponding staircases known as the Escaliers des Cent Marches (so-called because each staircase has 100 steps) descend from above the east and west galleries to reach the level of the Orangerie. A crowd of several thousand men and women, protesting the high price and scarcity of bread, marched from the markets of Paris to Versailles. It is believed that the Kings also had special ceremonies for putting on and removing their boots. Our editors are instructed to fact check thoroughly, including finding at least three references for each fact. Hadouin-Mansart added a second level and two large new wings on either side of the original Cour Royale (Royal Courtyard). In 1875 a second parliamentary body, the French Senate, was created, and held its meetings for the election of a President of the Republic in a new hall created in 1876 in the south wing of the Palace.

The centerpiece is a painting of the King titled, "The King Governing Alone". In fact, when France was not at war its soldiers worked as construction for the Versailles Palace.

The King’s Apartments consisted of five rooms – The Guard Room, The Royal Table Antechamber, The Bull’s Eye Antechamber, the Counsel Chamber and the most private King’s Bed Chamber. It was also used for large events, such as full-dress and masked balls. It is difficult – if not impossible – to give an accurate rate of exchange between 1682 and today. They observed proper etiquettes such as wearing a hat, carrying a sword etc. Down a stairway from the Parterre d'Eau is the Latona Fountain, created in 1670, illustrating the story of Latona taken from the Metamorphoses of Ovid.

Atop the mansard slate roof are elaborate dormer windows and gilt lead roof dressings that were added by Hardouin-Mansart in 1679–1681. On October 6, 1789, from the balcony of this room Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, joined by the Marquis de Lafayette, looked down on the hostile crowd in the courtyard, shortly before the King was forced to return to Paris. Emperor Napoleon III used the Palace on occasion as a stage for grand ceremonies. While Venice in the 17th century had the monopoly on the manufacture of mirrors, Colbert succeeded in enticing a number of artisans from Venice to make the mirrors for Versailles.
[29], The King and Queen learned of the storming of the Bastille in Paris on July 14, 1789, while they were at the Palace, and remained isolated there as the Revolution in Paris spread.

Some are documented Versailles facts and some are just legends or myths. The new wing was completed in 1780.[26]. As of 4 April 2008, silver has been trading in New York at US$17.83 an ounce. She even built a ‘Temple of Love’ – consisting of a dozen columns and a statue of Cupid. [88] To relieve themselves, many courtiers had their own collapsible commode, known as a chaise percée, which was a padded seat with a chamber pot underneath. It was surrounded by flowerbeds and decorated entirely with blue and white porcelain, in imitation of the Chinese style.

In 2017 the Palace of Versailles received 7,700,000 visitors, making it the second-most visited monument in the Île-de-France region, just behind the Louvre and ahead of the Eiffel Tower.[3]. When the King promenaded in the gardens, fountains were turned on only when the King was approaching them, and turned off after he departed. The military operation which suppressed the Commune at the end of May was directed from Versailles, and the prisoners of the Commune were marched there and put on trial in military courts. Some are academic and some are just Palace of Versailles fun facts. In 1738, Louis XV remodeled the king's petit appartement on the north side of the Cour de Marbre, originally the entrance court of the old château. [77], The Grand Perspective of the palace continues from the Fountain of Latona south along a grassy lane, the Tapis Vert or green carpet, to the Basin of the Chariot of Apollo. After accounting for inflation, estimates peg its cost of construction between 170 Billion Euros (200 Billion USD) to 250 Billion Euros (300 Billion USD).
[6], After this event, Louis XIII decided to make his hunting lodge at Versailles into a château. [67], The Royal Opera during the celebration of the marriage of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette (1770), Ceiling of the opera, painted by Louis Jean-Jacques Durameau, The Royal Opera of Versailles was originally commissioned by Louis XIV in 1682 and was to be built at the end of the North Wing with a design by Mansart and Vigarani. The Moberly-Jourdain Incident is a 1911 ghost story scandal that shook Versailles fans to their core. According to Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain, the two pals were leaving the Grand Trianon at Versailles when they encountered several ghastly figures.

Charles Le Brun painted thirty scenes of the early reign of Louis XIV on the ceiling.

Beginning in the Renaissance period, the term "chateau" was used to refer to the rural location of a luxurious residence, as opposed to an urban palace. One royal mistress wrote how this excessive intermingle of “natural” smells would make people sick nearly every night.

They were set aside for the personal use of Louis XIV in 1683. More than 35,000 workers constructed the Palace of Versailles. [83] At full capacity, over one million gallons of water per day could be pumped into the Marly reservoirs, but ironically by the 1690s the Château de Marly had become the main recipient, since Louis XIV built an enormous water cascade to rival the waterworks at Versailles.[84]. Escape the guillotine and head to the Hall of Mirrors to reflect on these 44 decadent facts about the Palace of Versailles. The façade of Louis XIII's original château is preserved on the entrance front.

[74], The Latona Fountain underwent a major renovation between 2012 and 2015, which required the removal of its statuary, marble fittings, and lead pipe network for off-site restoration. Sure, Versailles looked hot in its heyday, but the winter months were difficult. The gardens of the Palace of Versailles cover 30,000+ acres. The celebrated bust of Louis XIV by Bernini made during the famous sculptor's visit to France in 1665, is on display here. [109], To counter the costs of Versailles during the early years of Louis XIV's personal reign, Colbert decided that Versailles should be the "showcase" of France. The ceiling paintings by the Flemish artist Jean Baptiste de Champaigne depicts the god Mercury in his chariot, drawn by a rooster, and Alexander the Great and Ptolemy surrounded by scholars and philosophers.

He did not reside at Versailles, but began the creation of the Museum of the History of France, dedicated to "all the glories of France", located in the south wing of the Palace, which had been used to house some members of the royal family. [65], The paintings on the ceiling display scenes depicting the three figures of the trinity. In 1687, he replaced it with the Grand Trianon, a larger and more classical pavilion designed by Mansart, with a terrace and walls faced with different colored slabs of marble. Her little village had a farm, barn, billiards room, theatre, etc. It has 17 huge mirrored arches opposite 17 windows. However, owing to Venetian proprietary claims on the technology of mirror manufacture, the Venetian government ordered the assassination of the artisans to keep the secrets proprietary to the Venetian Republic. In 1695, it’s said to have gotten so cold that the king’s wine glass froze right on the table. The National Assembly held its meetings in the Opera House.

[53] At the time of its creation, Versailles was transitioning to reflect governmental power and authority instead of a private home for the crown. Efforts to restore the damaged portions have been mostly successful, but very expensive. Louis-Philippe, who became King of Francec in 1830, decided to dedicate Palace of Versailles to all the glories of France.

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