The Chateau de versailles : A Masterpiece
The Château de Versailles is one of the largest castles in the world with more than
2,000 windows, 700 rooms, 1250 fireplaces, 67 staircases and more than 1,800 acres
of park.
A bit of history about the man behind the castle. In 1623, King Louis XIII - father
of Louis XIV , the Sun King , built a hunting lodge, a little château of brick,
stone, and slate . it was then enlarged by Philibert Le Roy.
In 1661, Louis Le Vau and Jules Hardouin Mansart started embellishing the Versailles
castle. . From 1668 to 1670 was built a second building enveloping the old Versailles
castle with new even style stone façades. After Le Vau's death in 1670 , François
d'Orbay finished the work.
The Château de Versailles became the official residence of the Sun King and his
Court in 1682,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 King. The construction
of North and South castle's Wings, the Orangery, the Stables, the Royal Chapel was
supervised by royal architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart .The last construction started
during the reign of Louis XIV is the Royal Chapel. It was completed in 1710 by Robert
de Cotte.
During the reign of King Louis XV, around 1770, architect Gabriel built the Royal
Opera of Versailles. He also transformed some of the facades of the Versailles Château
on town side, in line with the rules of Classical Architecture and created a new
colonnaded building. Finally, in 1820, a symmetrical pavilion was erected on the
other side of the Great Courtyard of the Versailles castle.
The Palace was grand and luxurious, and also quite expensive to maintain. Historians
estimate that maintaining the Palace, including the care and feeding of its staff
and the Royal Family, consumed as much as 25% of the entire national income of the
country of France. That figure, however, is highly debated.
Another way to look at this controversy over the costs of Versailles, is to consider
the benefits that France drew from this royal palace. Versailles, by locking the
nobles into a golden cage, effectively ended the periodical aristocratic coups and
rebellions that had plagued France for centuries. It also destroyed regionalism,
and enabled a centralization of the state, for which modern Frenchmen are still
thankful to Louis XIV. This result was well worth the money spent on Versailles,
money that, incidentally, enabled thousands of workers, masons, glaziers, plasterers,
gilders, painters, gardeners, fountainers, and so forth, to live for years without
worrying about feeding their families.
Last but not least, for all the controversies about the costs of Versailles, one
has never heard such controversies about the costs of, say, the pyramids of Egypt
or the Taj Mahal in India. Versailles, after all, should be taken just for what
it was meant to be from the start: a cultural statement.
Mansart also built during the reign of Louis XIV, in the place where was the former
village of Trianon, a marble Castle called The "Grand Trianon" or "Marble
Trianon".
Louis XV had Gabriel build a small castle : the "Petit Trianon".which
was offered to the Queen Marie Antoinette by the King Louis XVI when he acceded
to the throne.
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. Le Nôtre designed
the garden.
An average of eight million visitors discover this architectural and cultural masterpiece
every year!
I found a helpful web site in english : title="http://www.chateauversailles.fr/en/" target="_blank">http://www.chateauversailles.fr/en/
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Email: info@parisforvacation.com
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posted by Paris for Vacation @ 7:34 PM
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