I

Palace of Versailles

Name : Abdurrahman Hatem Tayeb I.D. : 1010314

AR320

AR320

Palace of Versailles

"Versailles" redirects here. For the city, see Versailles (city). For the Japanese metal

band, see Versailles (band). For other uses, see Versailles (disambiguation).

Palace of Versailles

Château de Versailles

The interior court of the Palace of Versailles

Location within Île-de-France

The Palace of Versailles ( /vɛərˈsaɪ/ vair-SY or /vərˈsaɪ/; French: [vɛʁsɑj]), or simply

Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it

is the Château de Versailles.When the château was built, Versailles was a country village;

today, however, it is a suburb of Paris, some 20 kilometres southwest of the French capital.

The court of Versailles was the centre of political power in France from 1682, when Louis

XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in October

1789 after the beginning of the French Revolution. Versailles is therefore famous not only as

a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime.

History Main article: History of the Palace of Versailles

The original hunting lodge in 1623

The earliest mention of the name of Versailles is in a document dated 1038, relating to

the village of Versailles. In 1575, the seigneury of Versailles was bought by Albert de

Gondi, a naturalized Florentine, who invited Louis XIII on several hunting trips in the

forests surrounding Versailles. Pleased with the location, Louis ordered the

construction of a hunting lodge in 1624. Eight years later, Louis obtained the

seigneury of Versailles from the Gondi family and began to make enlargements to the

château. This structure would become the core of the new palace.[2]

Louis XIII's

successor, Louis XIV, had it expanded into one of the largest palaces in the world.[3]

Following the Treaties of Nijmegen in 1678, he began to gradually move the court to

Versailles. The court was officially established there on 6 May 1682.[4]

The four building campaigns (1664–1710):

View of the Palace from the garden

The first building campaign (1664–1668) commenced with the Plaisirs de l’Île enchantée (Pleasures of the Enchanted Island) of

1664, a fête that was held between 7 and 13 May 1664. The first building campaign (1664–1668) involved alterations in the château and gardens to accommodate the 600 guests invited to the party. (Nolhac, 1899, 1901; Marie, 1968; Verlet, 1985)

Plans of the evolution of Versailles

The palace in 1668 The palace in 1674 The palace in 1680

Louis XV – Louis XVI (1722–1788)

Gardens and palace of Versailles in 1746, by the abbot Delagrive

First Empire to July Monarchy (1800–1850)

The Grand Trianon Castle in Summer The Grand Trianon Castle Interiors

Louis-Philippe opening the Galerie des Batailles, 10 June 1837 (painted by François-

Joseph Heim)

From the Second Empire (1850–present)

Gardens and palace of Versailles in the 1920s.

Pierre de Nolhac arrived at the Palace of Versailles in 1887 and was appointed curator

of the museum in 1892.[10]

Nolhac began to restore the palace to its appearance before

the Revolution.[11]

Nolhac also organized events aimed at raising the awareness of

potential donors to the Palace. The development of private donations led to the

creation of the Friends of Versailles in June 1907.

Under the aegis of Gérald van der Kemp, chief conservator of the museum from 1952

to 1980, the Palace witnessed some of its most ambitious conservation and restoration

projects: new roofing for the galerie des glaces; restoration of the chambre de la

reine; restoration of the chambre de Louis XIV; restoration of the Opéra (Lemoine,

1976). At this time, the ground floor of the aile du Nord was converted into a gallery

of French history from the 17th century to the 19th century. (Kemp, 1976; Meyer,

1985)

Images of Versailles

Views of the Palace of Versailles

Panoramic view from the park

View of Versailles from

the Avenue de Paris, ca.

1662 by Pierre Patel.

This was how Versailles

looked before Louis XIV

began enlarging the

château.

Garden façade of the

Palace of Versailles, ca.

1675. Shown is the

terrace that was later to

become part of the Hall

of Mirrors.

Louis XIV's third building

campaign resulted in the

construction of the Hall of

Mirrors.

View of the Château de

Versailles as seen from

the Place d’Armes,

1722, ca. 1722, by

Pierre-Denis Martin.

This was how Versailles

looked at the end of

Louis XIV’s fourth

building campaign.

Proclamation of the German

Empire, 18 January 1871, 1877

by Anton von Werner.

The Signing of

Peace in the Hall of

Mirrors, Versailles,

28 June 1919 by Sir

William Orpen,

KBE.

Salle du Sacre

with a view

toward Salle des

Gardes de la

Reine in the

Grand

Appartement of

the queen.

The Queen's bedchamber.

There is a barely discernible

'hidden door' in the corner

near the jewel cabinet by

Schwerdfeger (1787) through

which Marie Antoinette

escaped the night of 5/6

October 1789 when the Paris

mob stormed Versailles.

The Hall of Mirrors.