The king also commissioned the landscape designer André Le Nôtre to create the most magnificent gardens in Europe, embellished with fountains, statues, basins, canals, geometric flower beds and groves of trees. At Royal de Versailles we carry the latest collection from Vacheron Constantin in our Toronto store. [12] In the 1670s and 1680s, 10 million livres worth of solid silver furniture was commissioned to designs by Le Brun, including tubs for Louis XIV's orange trees, an 8 foot high sculpted throne, and a silver balustrade in the Salon of Mercury. Additionally, Louis XIV's granddaughter-in-law, Princess Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy, duchesse de Bourgogne, wife of the Petit Dauphin, occupied these rooms from 1697 (the year of her marriage) to her death in 1712.[b]. The project was revived and rushed ahead for the planned celebration of the marriage of the Dauphin, the future Louis XVI, and Marie-Antoinette. The apartments of the King were the heart of the chateau; they were in the same location as the rooms of Louis XIII, the creator of the chateau, on the first floor (second floor US style). Gaspard's brother Balthazard designed six lead half-human, half-frog figures to grace the water spouts surrounding the Latona statue, with 24 cast lead frogs positioned on the grass surrounding the perimeter of the fountain. In 1761, Louis XV commissioned Ange-Jacques Gabriel to build the Petit Trianon as a residence that would allow him to spend more time near the jardins botaniques. ", Lighthart, Edward. [96], The palace still serves political functions. [53] The staircases’ primal function and the details it encompasses reinforces this progression at Versailles. The Dragon Fountain is one of the oldest at Versailles and has the highest jet of water, twenty-seven meters. [97], In 2009, President Nicolas Sarkozy addressed the global financial crisis before a congress in Versailles, the first time that this had been done since 1848, when Charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte gave an address before the French Second Republic. Louis XVI gave the Petit Trianon as a gift to his bride, Marie-Antoinette. Three additions formed the topological and symbolic nexus of the gardens during this phase of construction: the completion of the "Grotte de Thétys", the "Bassin de Latone", and the "Bassin d'Apollon". This early layout, which has survived in the so-called Du Bus plan of c.1662, shows an established topography along which lines of the gardens evolved. The creation of the German Empire, combining Prussia and the surrounding German states under William I, was formally proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors on January 18, 1871. It is difficult – if not impossible – to give an accurate rate of exchange between 1682 and today. 1670, Located on the east–west axis just west and below the Parterre d'Eau, is the Bassin de Latone. With the aid of Fouquet's architect Louis Le Vau, painter Charles Le Brun, and landscape architect André Le Nôtre, Louis began an embellishment and expansion program at Versailles that would occupy his time and worries for the remainder of his reign. Owing to the natural cycle of replantations that has occurred at Versailles, it is safe to state that no trees dating from the time of Louis XIV are to be found in the gardens. The Gardens of Versailles (French: Jardins du château de Versailles; French pronunciation: ​[ʒaʁdɛ̃ dy ʃato də versaij]) occupy part of what was once the Domaine royal de Versailles, the royal demesne of the château of Versailles. 85.1 x 108.9 cm. "Entrée du Labyrinthe" by Jean Cotelle, ca. About the work. Invictus SARL / Alamy Stock Photo. He died there on September 1, 1715. [61], The bed of the King is placed beneath a carved relief by Nicolas Coustou entitled France watching over the sleeping King. While much of the chateau's interior was irreparably altered to accommodate the Museum of the History of France dedicated to "all the glories of France" (inaugurated by Louis-Philippe on 10 June 1837), the gardens, by contrast, remained untouched. 5 In anticipation: For the silver balustrade for the king's bedroom: 90,000 livres, II. What can I say when you are lucky enough to lived there for almost 10 years and worked in Paris.… Well I have come back several times and have many posts on it in my blog. The Salon of Abundance was the antechamber to the Cabinet of Curios (now the Games Room), which displayed Louis XIV's collection of precious jewels and rare objects. [8], In 1662, minor modifications to the château were undertaken; however, greater attention was given to developing the gardens. (Marie 1972, 1975; Nolhac 1901, 1925; Thompson 2006; Verlet 1985), Modifications in the gardens during the third building campaign were distinguished by a stylistic change from the natural esthetic of André Le Nôtre to the architectonic style of Jules Hardouin Mansart. Chateau; Floor Plans; Chantilly Chambers; WakeCo Jardin; East Jardin; Salle de Valencay; Salle de Versailles; Salle De Pierrefonds; Verona Foyer; Outdoor Gazebo; … [73], 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. ", Weber, Gerold. Owing largely to the topology of the land, the English esthetic was abandoned and the gardens replanted in the French style. Versailles - Château de Versailles - Salle du Sacre - column in Sèvres porcelain. (Nolhac 1901, 1925) The Orangery, which was designed by Louis Le Vau, was located south of the château, a situation that took advantage of the natural slope of the hill. The bed is a replica of the original commissioned by King Louis-Philippe in the 19th century when he turned the Palace into a Museum. 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. 1693, "Bassin de l'Encélade" Jean Cotelle, ca. Sensing the potential threat to Versailles, Louis Claude Marie Richard (1754–1821) – director of the jardins botaniques and grandson of Claude Richard – lobbied the government to save Versailles. Meal at the House of Simon the Pharisee by Veronese in the Salon of Hercules, The construction of the Hall of Mirrors between 1678 and 1686 coincided with a major alteration to the State Apartments. Bosquet des Sources - La Colonnade "L'orangerie de Mansart à Versailles. In 1709, the bosquet was rearranged with the addition of the Fontaine de l'Île aux Enfants. 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. The plot centres on a triangular relationship: the king, his landscape architect and garden Ayers 2004, pp. She was at the Petit Trianon in July 1789 when she first heard the news from Paris of the storming of the Bastille and the beginning of the French Revolution. [18] The grand stairway to the King's apartment was redecorated almost as soon as it was completed with plaques of colored marble and trophies of arms, tapestries, and balconies, so the members of the court could observe the processions of the King. The War Salon commemorates the victorious campaign of Louis XIV against the Dutch, which ended in 1678. During Louis XIV's reign, water supply systems represented one-third of the building costs of Versailles. The palace is now a historical monument and UNESCO World Heritage site, notable especially for the ceremonial Hall of Mirrors, the jewel-like Royal Opera, and the royal apartments; for the more intimate royal residences, the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon located within the park; the small rustic Hameau (Hamlet) created for Marie Antoinette; and the vast Gardens of Versailles with fountains, canals, and geometric flower beds and groves, laid out by André le Nôtre. [45], The Marble Court and facades of the first Chateau, embellished by Louis Le Vau (1661–68) and then Hardouin-Mansart in (1679–1681), Plan of the main floor (c. 1837, with north to the right), showing the Hall of Mirrors in red, the Hall of Battles in green, the Royal Chapel in yellow, and the Royal Opera in blue, The facade facing the garden, with the royal apartments and the Gallery of Mirrors between them[citation needed]. Expanding the layout established during the first building campaign, Le Nôtre added or expanded on no fewer that ten bosquets: The Bosquet du Marais in 1670;[18] the Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau,[19] Île du Roi and Miroir d'Eau,[20] the Salle des Festins (Salle du Conseil),[21] the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines in 1671;[22] the Labyrinthe[23] and the Bosquet de l'Arc de Triomphe[24] in 1672; the Bosquet de la Renommée (Bosquet des Dômes)[25] and the Bosquet de l'Encélade[26] in 1675; and the Bosquet des Sources[27] in 1678 (Marie 1972, 1976; Thompson 2006; Verlet 1985).[28]. Its most famous room is the Galerie des Batailles (Hall of Battles), which lies on most of the length of the second floor of the south wing. This system brought an additional 72,000 m3 of water to the gardens (Thompson, 2006). [44] This involves restoring some of the parterres like the Parterre du Midi to their original formal layout, as they appeared under Le Nôtre. La Colonnade with the "Abduction of Persephone" by François Girardon. The King kept a silver throne, usually located in the Salon of Apollo, which was brought to the Hall of Mirrors for formal ceremonies, such as the welcome of foreign ambassadors, including a delegation from the King of Siam in 1686. Mansart also built the Petites Écuries and Grandes Écuries (stables) across the Place d'Armes, on the eastern side of the château. ", Nolhac, Pierre de. The furnishings and art of the Palace, including the furniture, mirrors, baths and kitchen equipment, were sold in seventeen thousand lots. [59], Ceiling in the Salon of Apollo, depicting the Sun Chariot of Apollo, Bust of Louis XIV by Bernini in Salon of Diana. [40], When these results and the high quality achieved were brought to the attention of the French Minister of Culture, he revived 18th-century weaving techniques so as to reproduce the silks used in the decoration of Versailles. The King defeated the plot and sent his mother into exile. (Marie 1968, 1972, 1976; Nolhac 1899, 1901, 1902, 1925). [40] After the war when Soviet authorities were restoring the palace, which had been gutted by the retreating Nazi forces, they recreated the silk fabrics by using preserved 18th-century remnants. Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau - Bosquet du Rond-Vert Engendered by a change in outlook as advocated by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Philosophes, the winter of 1774–1775 witnessed a complete replanting of the gardens. During the reign of Louis XV, the Queen, Marie Leszczyńska, used this salon as a music room, organizing concerts of secular and religious music each Sunday. [82] There was no fresh water tap above ground level until the reign of Louis XV, and even then it was limited to the King's private kitchen and his personal bathroom. "Un grand pavillon d'Apollon pour Versailles: les origines du projet de Nicodème Tessin le jeun. In their history, the gardens of Versailles have undergone no less than five major replantations, which have been executed for practical and aesthetic reasons. (Thompson 2006; Verlet 1985), Owing to the many modifications made to the gardens between the 17th and the 19th centuries, many of the bosquets have undergone multiple modifications, which were often accompanied by name changes. Ville de … The wood was painted to resemble marble, and the ceiling was decorated with a painting of the Apollo, the god of the arts, preparing crowns for illustrious artists, by Louis Jean-Jacques Durameau. It was consecrated in 1710, and was dedicated to Louis IX of France, the ancestor and patron saint of the King. The conservation and restoration was interrupted by two world wars, but has continued until the present day. Originally, these statues were set in three individual niches in the grotto and were surrounded by various fountains and water features. [43] Another major project was the further restoration of the backstage areas Royal Opera of Versailles, which was completed on 9 April 1957. The new Opera was inaugurated on May 16, 1770, as part of the celebration of the royal wedding. ", Weber, Gerold. The Palace was stripped of all its furnishings after the French Revolution, but many pieces have been returned and many of the palace rooms have been restored. [58], The Salon of Mercury was the original State Bedchamber when Louis XIV officially moved the court and government to the Palace in 1682. 1688, "Le théâtre d'eau-vue de a scène" by Jean Cotelle, ca. Further along the east–west axis is the Bassin d'Apollon – the Apollo Fountain. This is evidenced in the clear definition of the main east–west and north–south axis that anchors the gardens' layout. Formal beds of turf and boxwood outlined by gravel paths to form arabesque patterns were created, faithful to the original designs of Le Nôtre. 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", which had been used to house some members of the royal family. Galerie d'Eau - Galerie des Antiques - Salle des Marronniers The twenty-four crystal chandeliers were hung only for special occasions. [36], The Palace briefly returned to the world stage in June 1919, when the Treaty of Versailles, formally ending the First World War, was signed in the Hall of Mirrors. Bosquet des Trois Fontaines (Berceau d'Eau) As part of the reorganization of the garden that was ordered by Louis XIV in the early part of the 18th century, the Apollo grouping was moved once again to the site of the Bosquet du Marais – located near the Latona Fountain – which was destroyed and was replaced by the new Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon. The Comptes meticulously list the expenditures on the silver furniture – disbursements to artists, final payments, delivery – as well as descriptions and weight of items purchased. These additions were removed in 1708. In 1672, Jean-Baptiste Colbert devised a system by which the fountaineers in the garden would signal each other with whistles upon the approach of the king indicating that their fountain needed to be turned on. [95], The Petit Trianon was created between 1763 and 1768 by Ange-Jacques Gabriel for Louis XV. To meet the needs of the early expansions of the gardens under Louis XIV, water was pumped to gardens from ponds near the château, with the Clagny pond serving as the principal source. In 1687 Hardouin-Mansart began the Grand Trianon, or Trianon de Marbre (Marble Trianon), replacing Le Vau's 1668 Trianon de Porcelaine in the northern section of the park. Louis XV's care for hygiene led him to install an early water closet, imported from England, in 1738. For the city of Versailles, see, The hunting lodge and château of Louis XIII, Louis XVI, and the Palace during the Revolution, 19th century - history museum and government venue, The Parterre d'Eau and the Parterre and Fountain of Latona, Fountain of the Chariot of Apollo and the Grand Canal, North Parterre, Dragon Basin, and Basin of Neptune, Modern Political and ceremonial functions, Under Louis XIV the garden and park were enlarged further, eventually reaching 2,473. ", Souchal, François. Palace of Versailles Salle de 1792. The new theater was completed in time for the celebration of the wedding of the Dauphin, the future Louis XVI, and Archduchess Marie Antoinette of Austria. Arcaded galleries with walls up to 16 ft. thick are built against the three retaining walls. Transdniester, Moldova. Fennebresque, Juste. The Orangerie is located beneath the main terrace of the palace, on which the North and South Parterres rest. [40] The two greatest achievements of this initiative are seen today in wall hangings used in the restoration of the chambre de la reine in the grand appartement de la reine and the chambre du roi in the appartement du roi. Some of the objects in the collection are depicted in René-Antoine Houasse's painting Abundance and Liberality (1683), located on the ceiling over the door opposite the windows. Parts of the chateau, including the Gallery of Mirrors, were turned into a military hospital. [109], In 1667, the name of the enterprise was changed to the Manufacture royale des Meubles de la Couronne. With the relocation of the statues from the Grotte de Thétys in 1684, the bosquet was remodeled to accommodate the statues and the Fame fountain was removed. Between 1684 and 1685, Jules Hardouin-Mansart built the Colonnade. See 9 photos and 1 tip from 105 visitors to Bosquet de la Salle de Bal. However, once Louis XIV began expanding the gardens with more and more fountains, supplying the gardens with water became a critical challenge. [6] After Le Vau's death in 1670, the work was taken over and completed by his assistant François d'Orbay. 1693, "La Salle de bal" by Jean Cotelle, ca. The Topiary Labyrinth, or Hedge Maze", "Ahae à Versailles, le privilège de l'argent", "Un jardin contemporain pour le bosquet du théâtre d'eau", "Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau – Château de Versailles", "France's aristocratic gardens weave a pathway from present to past", "A Little Chaos masks the true story of Versailles' incredible gardens", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gardens_of_Versailles&oldid=995215029, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, "View of the Bassin de Laoton, 1678" engraving by, "View of the Bassin d'Apollon" engraving by, "View of the garden facade from the Basin de Latone" by, 5.57 km Grand Canal (circumference; surface area 23 ha. Records indicate that late in the decade Claude Mollet and Hilaire Masson designed the gardens, which remained relatively unchanged until the expansion ordered under Louis XIV in the 1660s. It is this final version of the fountain that one sees today at Versailles. It was surrounded by flowerbeds and decorated entirely with blue and white porcelain, in imitation of the Chinese style. ", Hoog, Simone. [39] Citing repair and maintenance costs, Louis XVI ordered the Labyrinthe demolished in 1778. The statue that currently occupies the center of the Colonnade – the Abduction of Persephone – (from the Grande Commande of 1664) was set in place in 1696 (Marie 1968, 1972, 1976, 1984; Thompson 2006; Verlet 1985). The fountain forms a focal point in the garden and serves as a transitional element between the gardens of the Petit Parc and the Grand Canal. Palace of Versailles Salle de 1792 Salle de 1792 France Europe Western Europe West Europe Versailles Palce of Versailles French Castle French Palace Castle Palace Chateau versailles Louis XIV Versailles Museum Versailles Domaine Royale chiefs of work royal palate royal family Louis XVI Chateau de versailles … (Marie 1976; Thompson 2006; Verlet 1985), With the departure of the king and court from Versailles in 1715 following the death of Louis XIV, the palace and gardens entered an era of uncertainty. For economy and speed, the new opera was built almost entirely of wood, which also gave it very high quality acoustics. ", Waltisperger, Chantal. [12] Designed by André Le Nôtre, sculpted by Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy, and constructed between 1668 and 1670, the fountain depicted an episode from Ovid's Metamorphoses. The grotto was a freestanding structure located just north of the château. Surrounding a central area paved with colored stone, a channel was decorated with twenty statues on plinths each separated by three jets of water. Replenishment of the water lost due to evaporation comes from rainwater, which is collected in cisterns that are located throughout the gardens and diverted to the reservoirs and the Grand Canal. The marble facing and statues were covered in years of accumulated grime, obscuring the vibrant colors of the marble and the gilt fixtures as they originally appeared. [46] Covered by around a million square feet (10 hectares) of roof, the palace has 2,143 windows, 1,252 chimneys, and 67 staircases.[47]. In recent years, eleven rooms on the ground floor between the Chapel and the Opera have been turned into a history of the palace, with audiovisual displays and models. Most of the apartments of the palace were entirely demolished (in the main building, practically all of the apartments were annihilated, with only the apartments of the king and queen remaining almost intact), and turned into a series of several large rooms and galleries: the Coronation Room (whose original volume was left untouched by Louis-Philippe), which displays the celebrated painting of the coronation of Napoleon I by Jacques-Louis David; the Hall of Battles; commemorating French victories with large-scale paintings; and the 1830 room, which celebrated Louis-Philippe's own coming to power in the French Revolution of 1830. The Palace of Versailles (/vɛərˈsaɪ, vɜːrˈsaɪ/ vair-SY, vur-SY;[1] French: Château de Versailles [ʃɑto d(ə) vɛʁsɑj] (listen)) was the principal royal residence of France from 1682, under Louis XIV, until the start of the French Revolution in 1789, under Louis XVI. [23] The following year Louis XV ordered the demolition of the north wing facing onto the Cour Royale, which had fallen into serious disrepair. This is the case with a nice living room of … [26] Louis XVI gave Marie Antoinette the Petit Trianon in 1774. [80] Over one thousand citrus trees, palms, Oleanders, Pomegranate and Olive trees, along with other tender plants, are housed inside the walls of the Orangerie during the winter; they are taken out onto the parterre bas from mid-May until mid-October. II. It was rebuilt beginning in 1712 under the supervision of the First Architect of the King, Robert de Cotte, to showcase two paintings by Paolo Veronese, Eleazar and Rebecca and Meal at the House of Simon the Pharisee, which was a gift to Louis XIV from the Republic of Venice in 1664. Originally arranged for the use of the Marie-Thérèse, consort of Louis XIV, the rooms were later modified for use by Marie Leszczyńska and finally for Marie-Antoinette. Occupying the site of the Galerie d'Eau (1678), the Galerie des Antiques was designed in 1680 to house the collection of antique statues and copies of antique statues acquired by the Académie de France in Rome. [19], The King increasingly spent his days in Versailles, and the government, court, and courtiers, numbering six to seven thousand persons, crowded into the buildings. Started in 1664 and finished in 1670 with the installation of the statuary by the Gilles Guérin, François Girardon, Thomas Regnaudin, Gaspard Marsy, and Balthazar Marsy, the grotto[11] formed an important symbolic and technical component to the gardens. Open Content images tend to be large in file-size. It was also used for large events, such as full-dress and masked balls. 215–229. Assiduous husbanding of this resource by museum officials prevents tapping into the supply of potable water of the city of Versailles (Thompson, 2006). 1693, "Bosquet des trois fontaines-vue du côté" by Jean Cotelle, ca. In 1682, the southern bosquet was remodeled as the Bosquet de la Girondole, thus named due to spoke-like arrangement of the central fountain. [46] Water from the pond was pumped to the reservoir on top of the Grotte de Thétys, which fed the fountains in the garden by means of gravitational hydraulics. Despite the augmentation of water from the Bièvre, the gardens needed still more water, which necessitated more projects. The bosquets were created for Louis XIV between 1680 and 1690. These volumes provide valuable archival material pursuant to the financial expenditure on all aspects of Versailles such as the payments disbursed for many trades as varied as artists and mole catchers. "Les statues aux façades du château de Versailles. [3], The site of the Palace was first occupied by a small village and church, surrounded by forests filled with abundant game. In the same year, Le Vau's Orangerie, located to south of the Parterrre d'Eau was demolished to accommodate a larger structure designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart. [a][4][6][7], Louis XIV first visited the château on a hunting trip in 1651 at the age of twelve, but returned only occasionally until his marriage to Maria Theresa of Spain in 1660 and the death of Cardinal Mazarin in 1661, after which he suddenly acquired a passion for the site.