20km southwest of Paris is the beautiful country side of France;Versailles which is enchantingly famous for the castle of King Louis XIV known as Palace of Versailles. The first ever seigneur of Versailles mentioned was Hugues de Versailles and then in 1575, Albert de Gondi bought the Versailles. Gondi had invited King Louis XIII for hunting trips near Versailles during early 17th century which resulted in construction of a hunting lodge in 1624 as the king was pleased. After few years later King Louis XII gained the ownership of Versailles his son, Louis XIV became familiar with the place since he was a boy. When Louis XIV became king, he renovated the château in Versailles which was the hunting lodge earlier into one of the biggest castles in the world. Its constructions and renovations began in 1661 using the master minds of architect Louis Le Vau, landscape architect André Le Nôtre, and painter-decorator Charles Le Brun. King Louis XIV moved the capital of France to this castle at Versailles from Paris and officially settled down there on 6 May, 1682.Following the death of King Louis XIV in 1715, his five year old son Louis XV became king who moved to Paris again. The king and the court returned Versailles again in 1722. King Louis XVI also contributed to the goodwill of Versailles but it was mostly the unfinished work of his grandfather. In early years of French revolution, the royal family again moved to their Tuileries Palace in Paris and the castle at Versailles was looked after by the citizens in the area. However on 21 June, 1791 King Louis XVI was arrested and the Palace of the Versailles was ordered to be sealed. Few years later in August 1793, the palace’s most of the furnishings were auctioned. After many debates and discussions the castle was decided not to be sold but to be looked after for the public which later became a part of the proposed museum.
Huges Lagarde was named as bibliographer of this museum. Lagarde assembled a team of curators naming sieur Fayolle for natural history and, Louis Jean-Jacques Durameau, as curator for painting. Anyhow during the rule of Napoleon, the work of Palace of Versailles was dispersed and eventually the museum was closed. According to the 1804 Constitution, Versailles became an imperial palace for the department of the Seine-et-Oise. Pope Pius VII visited the palace of Versailles on 3 January 1805 who came to officiate the coronation of Napoleon.
With the establishment of the July Monarchy, Versailles was designated as a crown dependency. Louis Philippe, the successor of Napoleon proposed a museum dedicated to all the glories in France in 1833 for here. The opening of the museum was on 10 June 1837 surrounded by the festivities of the marriage of Prince Ferdinand Philippe d’Orléans with princess Hélène of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
Among the structures of the palace, the grand appartement de la reine was a residence to three queens Marie-Thérèse d’Autriche, wife of Louis XIV, Marie Leczinska, wife of Louis XV, and Marie-Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI. The construction of Hall of Mirrors began in 1678 and other structures include Salle des gardes de la reine, Antichambre, Grand cabinet, Chambre de la reine, Chapels of Versailles, L’Opéra and Appartement du roi. Appartement du roi and Le petit appartement du roi were for the private use of the king. Le petit appartement de la reine was for the private use of the queen. Galerie des Glaces or famously known as the Hall of Mirrors is the most celebrated of all Versailles.
During the 19th century, the Palace of Versailles became the museum of the history of France. Many paintings displayed here are work of major painters such as Delacroix, Horace Vernet or François Gérard as well as Philippe de Champaigne,Pierre Mignard, Laurent de La Hyre, Charles Le Brun, Adam Frans van der Meulen, Nicolas de Largillière, Hyacinthe Rigaud, Jean Antoine Houdon, Jean Marc Nattier, Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Hubert Robert, Thomas Lawrence, Jacques Louis David, Antoine Jean Gros and also Pierre Auguste Renoir.
Travellers’ Guide
The Chateau is open from Tuesday to Sunday, except on certain French public holidays:
May-September 9 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. and October-April 9a.m. to 5.30p.m The park and the gardens are open every day except in bad weather from 7 a.m. in summer, 8 a.m. in winter, until sunset.
Palace of Versailles is just a half an hour ride from the capital Paris approximately 20km southwest of Paris. You can visit the palace by train as there are three rail lines from Paris to Versailles or you can go by bus with the number 171 from Pont de Sèvres.
If you are planning to stay in Versailles there are excellent hotel options for you.
LOGIS La Residence du Berry
The exclusive LOGIS La Residence du Berry Hotel is located just a few minutes walk from the park and castle of Versailles and near the convention centre and the train station.
Trianon Palace Versailles, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel
Hotel Le Home Saint Louis
Hotel Les Etangs de Corot
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