The Château de Versailles is part of the 815-hectare Domaine de Versailles. It is located 20 km west, slightly south, as the crow flies, from the center of Paris, 25 km by road from Notre Dame de Paris. If today it takes less than an hour to get to Versailles from Paris, Louis XIV must have planned at least a morning's carriage ride. This is probably one of the reasons why he and his court gradually moved to Versailles full-time.
The Versailles estate: the King thought big
Today, the park at the Château de Versailles covers 815 ha, compared with over 8,000 ha before the French Revolution. The Garden alone covers 93 ha. The park comprises numerous elements, including the Petit and Grand Trianon (home to Napoleon I, Louis XVIII, Charles X, Louis-Philippe I and Napoleon III), the Queen's hamlet, the Grand and Petit Canal, a menagerie (now destroyed), an orangery and the pièce d'eau des Suisses. The Versailles estate (excluding the main château) is the subject of a separate article (URL).
Organizing your visit to Versailles
The Château de Versailles and its estate are particularly extensive. To help you organize your visit and see everything, to save you time and effort, we've put together a special article on the subject. Click on “Versailles Tour: organise your visit of the castle and estate”.
The Château de Versailles (Palace)
The Château de Versailles is a complex ensemble of courtyards and main buildings, all preserving their architectural harmony. It covers an area of 63,154 m2, divided into 2,300 rooms, 1,000 of which are used by the Musée National des Châteaux de Versailles and the two Châteaux de Trianon also located in the park (see URL Domaine).
History of the Versailles estate
Louis XIII (father of Louis XIV) bought a plot of land from Jean de Soisy, which his family had owned since the 14th century, and had a new home built there. From time to time, he received his mother Marie de Médicis and his wife Anne d'Autriche in his little home. However, they never stayed overnight, as Louis XIII's château had no apartments for women.
In the early 17th century, the surrounding lands were owned by the de Gondi family on the one hand, and by the Saint-Julien de Versailles priory on the other, whose prior was Mathieu Mercerie. From 1622 to 1654, Jean-François de Gondi was Archbishop of Paris, on which the priory depended. Jean-François de Gondi, lord of Versailles, owned the estate. On April 8, 1632, Jean-François de Gondi sold “La terre et seigneurie de Versailles” to the king. All that stood on the site of today's Versailles estate was a windmill.
It all started small with Louis XIII
In May 1631, work began on enlarging Louis XIII's home, under the direction of engineer-architect Philibert Le Roy. In 1634, the wall enclosing the courtyard was replaced by a stone portico with six ironwork arches.
In 1643, feeling that his death was approaching, Louis XIII declared: “If God restores my health,” he told his confessor, the Jesuit Jacques Dinet, “I will stop libertinism, I will abolish duels, I will abolish the death penalty, I will repress injustice, I will take communion every eight days, and as soon as I see my dauphin fit to ride and of age, I will put him in my place and retire to Versailles with four of your Fathers, to talk with them about divine things and to think of nothing but the affairs of my soul and my salvation.
On May 14, Louis XIII died, leaving the kingdom to his four-year-old son Louis XIV. Too young to govern, management of the kingdom was entrusted to his mother Anne of Austria, and Versailles ceased to be a royal residence for almost eighteen years.
On May 18, 1643, Anne of Austria called on Cardinal Mazarin to become Prime Minister. She also made him her son's tutor. The day after the king's death, Louis and his younger brother, Duke Philippe d'Anjou, moved from Saint-Germain-en-Laye to the Palais-Cardinal, renamed Palais-Royal, in Paris.
Between 1751 and 53, Louis XIV, then aged 14, returned to Versailles several times to hunt, but without becoming attached. The 14-year-old monarch preferred to go hunting at Vincennes (east of Paris).
1660: the real start of the Château de Versailles project
In September 1660, the king began to take control of the estate. Instead of appointing a successor to the former intendant, M. de Beaumont, he gave the stewardship commission to his close servant, Jérôme Blouin, the king's first valet de chambre. Blouin brought order to the management of the estate by dismissing gardener Hilaire II Masson, on the king's orders, who had been accused of depredations. Louis XIV also requested that the château's inventory be checked. And on October 11, 1660, the king ordered the janitor Henry de Bessay, sieur de Noiron, to retire to Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
Four months after his marriage to Maria Theresa of Austria, Louis XIV went to Versailles with his wife on October 25, 1660, to “enjoy the hunt”. It was at this time that the king's interest in his father's estate became explicit. He envisaged enlarging the garden and creating a new park of “considerable extent”. As early as November, Blouin began looking for financing for the work ahead. To this end, he put the seigneury's lease back up for sale, and succeeded, not without difficulty, in having it accepted by the receiver-fermier then in place, Denis Gourlier, for the sum of 5,200 livres.
1661 to 1664: the beginning of the Château de Versailles work
From 1661 onwards, the king allocated a modest sum of one and a half million livres. It has to be said that the start of this work triggered sly criticism among the courtiers. The chronicler Saint-Simon described it thus: “Versailles, an ungrateful, sad place, with no view, no woods, no water, no land, because everything is quicksand and swamp, with no air, which is therefore not good”.
Louis XIV then devoted 4 campaigns to financing Versailles until 1710.
The first campaign from 1664 to 1668
From 1664 onwards, Louis XIV had Versailles fitted out so that he could spend several days there with his Council and members of the Court. He decided to keep the original château built by Louis XIII, more for financial than sentimental reasons. Le Vau then tripled the surface area of the château, which was decorated with great luxury, in particular taking up the theme of the sun, omnipresent at Versailles. The Versailles garden, particularly appreciated by Louis XIV, was adorned with sculptures by Girardon and Le Hongre.
In 1665, the first statues were installed in the garden and the grotto of Téthys was built. The first orangery, the menagerie and the Grotte de Téthys were built at this time. Two years later, digging of the Grand Canal began. Between 1669 and 1671, the birds and mammals of the menagerie served as models for the Flemish king's painter Pieter Boel's compositions entitled the Twelve Months, in Charles Le Brun's designs for the Gobelins factory. The Louvre holds twenty of these studies.
The second campaign from 1669 to 1672
The second construction campaign began with the Treaty of Aachen, which put an end to the War of Devolution. The treaty was celebrated with a party held in its name on July 18, 1668. Known as the “Grand Divertissement royal de Versailles”, it was marked by the premiere of George Dandin ou le Mari Confondu, a play written by Molière, and Les Fêtes de l'Amour et du Hasard, composed by Jean-Baptiste Lull. As at the 1664 festival, some courtiers were unable to find a roof over their heads, which reinforced Louis XIV's plans to enlarge the château. The project was finally accepted, and was characterized by the introduction of a new financial envelope.
The third campaign from 1678 to 1684
The Treaties of Nijmegen, which put an end to the Dutch War, triggered the third construction campaign at Versailles. Under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the château took on the appearance we know today. The Galerie des Glaces, with its twin salons (Salon de la Guerre, Salon de la Paix), the North and South wings and the Herculean work in the garden were the hallmarks of this era of the Sun King's reign.
The fourth campaign from 1699 to 1710
Shortly after the defeat of the League of Augsburg war, and probably also under the influence of the pious favorite Madame de Maintenon, Louis XIV undertook his final building campaign at Versailles.
The fourth building campaign (1699-1710) saw the construction of the last chapel (the present-day château chapel). This chapel was designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart and, after his death, completed by Robert de Cotte in 1710. The expansion of the King's apartment was also undertaken at this time, with the completion of the Salon de l'Œil-de-bœuf and the King's bedroom. With the completion of the chapel, virtually all the Sun King's buildings came to an end. Louis XIV died in 1715.
King Louis XV's Court leaves Versailles for Paris
Louis XV, his successor, was the only survivor of the measles-stricken family. Born in 1710, he was the great-grandson of Louis XIV and only 5 years old in 1715. His tutor Philippe d'Orléans (known as the Regent, nephew of Louis XIV and 2nd cousin of Louis XV) left Versailles on September 9 and moved to his Parisian residence at the Palais-Royal, with the King and Court at the Tuileries.
During this Regency, the Duc de Noailles proposed nothing less than razing the château to the ground.
In 1717, Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, visited Versailles and stayed at the Grand Trianon.
King Louis XV returns to the Château de Versailles
This took place in 1722. The reasons given were varied. It would appear that the king was in favor of the project, as evidenced by testimonials such as those of Marshal de Villeroi, which show his attachment to the Château de Versailles. This return would also symbolize his taking possession of his grandfather's legacy. Lawyer Barbier recounts how, on arriving at Versailles, the twelve-year-old Louis XV lay down on the parquet floor of the Galerie des Glaces to admire the paintings on the vaulted ceiling, and was imitated by the courtiers.
Louis XV's contribution to Château de Versailles
Three of Louis XV's projects were brought to fruition: the completion of the grand appartement with the Salon d'Hercule, the Bassin de Neptune and the addition of a royal opera house to the château. Although he had little interest in music or painting, he had a keen interest in architecture.
On the King's return in 1722, the King's apartments were completely redesigned. The second floor became the King's inner apartment, retaining its ceremonial functions. On the second floor, on the other hand, Louis XV had his small apartments and cabinets fitted out for private use. In the same year, he had a cabinet de tour installed in an attic on the second floor, overlooking the marble courtyard.
As for the rest, it should be noted that Pierre Narbonne, the first police commissioner for the city of Versailles, carried out a census of the Versailles court in 1722: 4,000 people were housed within the château itself, and around 2,700 in the outbuildings (mainly staff known at the time as “utilités”), not including the 1,434 men of the king's simple guard, for whom no accommodation was noted.
Louis XV also had 8 daughters. To accommodate all these princesses in apartments befitting their rank, Gabriel carried out a series of renovations. Over the years, “Mesdames” changed apartments, moving from the Midi wing to the Nord wing, and to the first floor of the main building (and even to the second floor for Madame Adélaïde). These successive moves led to the complete disappearance of certain ensembles, such as the baths apartment, the Ambassadors' staircase and the partitioning of the lower gallery.
The Salon d'Hercule
The new Administration des Bâtiments, headed by the Duc d'Antin since 1708, began decorating the Salon d'Hercule in 1712, under the direction of Robert de Cotte.
But it wasn't until 1729 that the novelty of the carved compartmentalized ceiling was realized. François Lemoyne. He seized the opportunity to rival Veronese by painting L'Apothéose d'Hercule between 1733 and 1736. On the far wall is a huge painting by Veronese, Le Repas chez Simon, presented by the Republic of Venice to King Louis XIV in 1664. The room was completed in 1736. But it was not inaugurated until January 26, 1739, with a “ball paré” to celebrate the marriage of Louis XV's eldest daughter to the Infant of Spain. The Salon d'Hercule was subsequently the setting for a number of exceptional “grands couverts” (in 1769 for the wedding of the Duc de Chartres, and in 1782 for the birth of the Dauphin) and extraordinary audiences such as that of the embassy of the Sultan of Mysore Tipou Sahib in August 1788.
Versailles under Louis XV by architect Gabriel
Throughout his career, Ange-Jacques Gabriel (1698-1782), appointed Premier architecte du roi in 1742, was faced with housing problems. The Queen gave birth to eight princesses and 2 boys. To accommodate all these princesses in apartments befitting their rank, Gabriel carried out a number of works.
From 1761 to 1768, Gabriel also began construction of the Petit Trianon.
On May 16, 1770, the marriage of the Dauphin (future Louis XVI) to Marie-Antoinette de Lorraine, Archduchess of Austria, was celebrated in the royal chapel. At the same time, the Opéra Royal was inaugurated for the royal feast, marking the pinnacle of Gabriel's art. The Opéra Royal is undoubtedly Gabriel's most important work.
In 1771, Gabriel presented the king with his “grand project” of rebuilding all the facades on the city side. Only the right wing, which was in danger of ruin, was built. With its columned pavilion, the rules of classical architecture were respected. The king approved the project. As the royal coffers were short of funds, Madame du Barry took charge of raising the money for the project. In 1772, work began on the “grand projet”, which was never completed, but gave rise to the Louis XV wing.
Louis XVI and the Château de Versailles
Court life at Versailles continued under Louis XVI, but financial restrictions were applied to the King's House, and maintenance of the château was costly. The lack of conveniences (bathroom, heating) in the apartments made the need for a thorough renovation of the buildings increasingly pressing, but lack of funds meant that the project was postponed until the French Revolution.
Marie-Antoinette imposed major expenses on the Petit Trianon, which contributed to making her unpopular. August 15, the feast of the Assumption, is commemorated by a grand procession attended by all courtiers. This commemorates the consecration of France to Mary, decreed by Louis XIII. It was during the ceremony on August 15, 1785, that the King had his Grand Chaplain, Prince Cardinal Louis de Rohan, arrested in the crowded Galerie des Glaces, after his involvement in the affair known as the Queen's Necklace.
Library of Louis XVI
On his accession to the throne in 1774, Louis XVI wanted a room dedicated to his relaxation. The choice fell on a library. It was begun at the start of his reign. The decor, designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, was sculpted by Jules-Antoine Rousseau. Jean-Claude Quervelle creates a large table with a monoxyl top for Louis XVI to display his Sèvres cookies. Two globes, one terrestrial and one celestial, complete the decor in 1777.
It was in this library that Louis XVI decided to arrest his Grand Chaplain on August 15, 1785, as mentioned above.
1783: Louis XVI's gilded cabinet
This room was created to house part of Louis XIV's collections. During the reign of Louis XV, it was used for a variety of purposes. For example, it served as a showroom for the king's gold crockery, hence the name “Cabinet de la Vaisselle d'Or”. It was later attached to the apartments of Madame Adélaïde, daughter of Louis XV. From then on, this room became her music room, where Adélaïde received harp lessons from Beaumarchais. Mozart is said to have performed here for the royal family in 1763.
Under Louis XVI, the room once again became a showroom. In 1788, Louis XVI exhibited one of his personal purchases, the butterfly cabinet.
The Château de Versailles during the French Revolution (1789-1799)
The château, an emblematic site of royalty, was at the heart of revolutionary events as early as 1789, when it hosted the Estates General from May 5 to June 27, 1789, which sounded the death knell for the French monarchy.
On October 5 of the same year, a group of Parisian women marched to Versailles to express their discontent. This popular movement, which culminated in an invasion of the château, marked a decisive turning point for the monarchy. King Louis XVI and his family were forced to leave Versailles for Paris, never to return. This marked the definitive abandonment of the château as a center of power.
Before leaving, the king asked the governor to preserve the château, which fell into darkness with the closing of its shutters. Although stripped of its splendor, Versailles was nevertheless protected from destruction by the National Guard and a few Swiss ranks. Only royal symbols such as the fleurs de lys and crowns were destroyed, but the château lost some of its furniture, which was transported elsewhere or stored in furniture repositories. Such was the case with Louis XV's famous secretary, which was transferred to the Hôtel de la Marine in Paris.
In 1790, the municipality of Versailles requested the King's help to support local workers, in particular for the upkeep of the Grand Canal. However, Louis XVI soon stopped payments, leaving the canal to degrade into an unhealthy marsh. A decree in 1792 protected the site, reserving it for a swimming school.
After the fall of the monarchy in 1792, the remaining furniture was auctioned off between 1793 and 1796. Many prestigious pieces were bought by representatives of King George III to decorate English palaces.
Some revolutionaries even considered demolishing the château. Towards the end of 1793 and beginning of 1794, the area around the Grand Canal was used for agricultural activities. Gondoliers and sailors were retained to maintain the flotilla, while the animals of the Menagerie were transferred to the Natural History Museum in Paris. Versailles also became a repository for works of art confiscated from emigrated nobles. However, the château was not completely closed to the public. A few citizens, in possession of the keys, were able to show groups of visitors around.
It was only in 1795 that the château officially became a museum, confirming its new cultural role. It houses masterpieces by the French School, while the Louvre focuses on Dutch and Flemish collections. The château, though stripped of its former splendor, becomes a place where history and art coexist. Parts of the château were also transformed into schools, and the royal kitchen garden was used for natural science classes.
In this way, Versailles, once a symbol of royal grandeur, becomes a public and educational space, while retaining some of its majesty intact despite the Revolution.
Versailles under the Consulate and Empire of Napoleon I (1799-1814)
Under the Consulate and Empire (1799-1814), Napoleon I planned to transform the Château de Versailles into an imperial palace. In 1804, Duroc, grand marshal of the palace, took possession of the château in the name of the Empire, and in 1805, Pope Pius VII blessed the crowds from the Hall of Mirrors. However, Napoleon chose to settle at the Grand Trianon, delaying his move to Versailles.
As early as 1806, Napoleon ordered imperial tapestries from the Gobelins manufactory. Jacques Gondouin, the architect in charge, proposed two projects: an economical one, involving the construction of a wing with a theater, and a more ambitious one that included numerous renovations and improvements, notably to the Grand Commun, the orangery and the Grand Canal. However, the wars brought work to a halt in 1807. In 1808, Napoleon abandoned Gondouin's plans and concentrated on renovating the existing buildings.
In 1810, after his marriage to Marie-Louise, Napoleon once again wished to settle at Versailles, and entrusted the work to the architect Alexandre Dufour. He proposed ambitious plans, including the construction of a new wing with a throne room and theater.
In 1811, after the birth of his son, the King of Rome, Napoleon considered making Versailles a palace for his son, although he ultimately favored the construction of the Palais du Roi de Rome in Chaillot. Several projects were studied, including those of Jean-François Heurtier and the Dufour-Fontaine duo, but the fall of the Empire in 1814 put an end to these transformations. Versailles remained unused until the return of the monarchy, although Napoleon regularly stayed at the Grand Trianon.
The Restoration (1814-1830)
After the Restoration, Louis XVIII undertook restoration work at Versailles, planning to make it his summer residence. However, he decided not to reside there, fearing it would alter his image as a non-absolute sovereign. These works, continued by Charles X, included the construction of the Pavillon Dufour (1818-1820). Philippe Louis Marc Antoine de Noailles, appointed Governor of the Royal House of Versailles in 1815, managed royal and parish affairs at Versailles. On his death in 1819, he was eulogized in the Chamber of Peers by Armand de Saint-Georges, who succeeded him in the post.
Louis-Philippe I (1830-1848) and Napoleon III (1851-1870)
From 1830 to 1870, the Château de Versailles became a monument to the glory of France through the centuries.
Between 1830 and 1870, Louis-Philippe transformed Versailles into a museum dedicated “To all the glories of France”, to save the château from ruin and promote national reconciliation. Under the direction of architect Pierre Fontaine, the work, financed by Louis-Philippe, cost over 23 million francs. The king created the Galerie des Batailles, a vast room decorated with 32 paintings commemorating France's military victories. The Musée de l'Histoire de France, inaugurated in 1837, was a great success, and included rooms such as the Salle des Croisades.
Under the Second Empire, Versailles became a venue for prestigious receptions, such as that of Queen Victoria in 1855 and other dignitaries at the 1867 Universal Exhibition. Napoleon III continued to add works, notably paintings depicting major events of his reign (Crimean War, Italian Campaign). The Grand and Petit Trianons are transformed into museums, the latter dedicated to the memory of Marie-Antoinette. Empress Eugenie, with her passion for Marie-Antoinette, influenced the growing interest in Versailles, notably by reinstating prestigious pieces of furniture, such as Schwerdfeger's jewel box and Roentgen's desk.
These efforts contributed to making Versailles a symbol of national history, integrating elements of the Ancien Régime, the Revolution, the Empire and the monarchy. The château thus became a monument to the glory of France through the centuries.
Versailles after Napoleon III's defeat at Sedan
This appropriation of the château by the Germans took place in two stages. After the defeat of Sedan in 1870, marking the end of the Franco-Prussian war, the Château de Versailles became the headquarters of the Prussian army during the siege of Paris. The Hall of Mirrors was transformed into a 400-bed hospital, while 1,000 artillery pieces were installed on the Place d'Armes. King William I and his court moved into Versailles on October 5, 1870. They celebrated Christmas and New Year's Eve in the royal apartments, dining on simple fare including herring salad. The Kronprinz decorated his soldiers under the equestrian statue of Louis XIV.
Later, it became a historic site for the German nation. On January 18, 1871, the German Empire was officially proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors. This historic moment sealed the union between the North German Confederation and the southern states, under the aegis of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Although the King of Prussia stayed at the Versailles prefecture rather than the château, this symbolic event made Versailles a key location in German history. Prussian troops finally left Versailles on March 6, 1871, after Adolphe Thiers signed an armistice.
In 1871, the Paris Commune uprising forced the French government to move temporarily to Versailles. The National Assembly was housed in the Opéra Royal, while 23,000 Communard prisoners were rounded up in the Orangerie. Some of them were executed in the park, at the Fédérés wall in the Satory camp.
By 1874, the château's dilapidated state was attracting attention, and Émile Zola described an abandoned Versailles, empty of life, slowly decaying under the effects of time and oblivion. He criticized the immensity of the building, now too large for human use.
In 1875, constitutional laws established a bicameral Parliament, with the Senate sitting in the Royal Opera House and the Chamber of Deputies in the new Congress Hall, the largest parliamentary hemicycle in Europe.
After 1879, Parliament returned to Paris, but Versailles remained the place where the Congress of Parliament met for presidential elections until 1962, and for constitutional revisions.
Versailles under the management of Pierre de Nolhac
Pierre de Nolhac arrived at Versailles in 1887 as a curatorial attaché, and became curator of the museum in 1892. He set himself two objectives: to create scientifically organized historical galleries and to restore the château to its pre-Revolutionary state.
To achieve this, Nolhac eliminated certain rooms, rearranged the decor and removed works of art. His transformation gave the château a new renown, attracting personalities such as the Duc d'Aumale and Empress Eugénie. Nolhac also invited foreign figures such as Tsar Nicholas II. He developed patronage, with private donations such as that of Gordon Bennett, leading to the creation of the Société des amis de Versailles in 1907.
During the First World War, Nolhac protected the works at the Château.
In 1919, Versailles became the symbolic site for the signing of the peace treaty, returning Alsace-Lorraine to France.
In memory of the humiliation suffered by France in 1871, the French government decided to have the Treaty of Versailles, which put an end to the 1st World War, signed in the Hall of Mirrors. The peace treaty was signed on June 28 1919 by David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau and Thomas Woodrow Wilson, alongside German representatives. France thus regained Alsace-Lorraine in the same place it had lost it.
However, despite Nolhac's efforts, the château and its gardens remain in a pitiful state. He suffered financially from the efforts necessitated by the war. Nolhac left his post in 1919 after 32 years of service, leaving Versailles without stable funding despite the restoration and initiatives he had put in place.
The rescue of the château by American financier David Rockefeller
Following his visit to France, John Davison Rockefeller decided to finance the restoration of the Château de Versailles, in particular the structural work and the water features in the park. He made a first payment in 1924, and a second in 1927. The generosity of this American citizen prompted the French government to allocate an annual restoration budget to the château.
Versailles and the 2nd World War
As the Second World War approached, the Inspector General of Fine Arts, Pierre Ladoué, took passive defense measures to protect the works: the woodwork was removed and the major pieces were sent to the Châteaux of Brissac, Sourches and Chambord, as well as to the Abbey of Les Vaux-de-Cernay. Access to the Hall of Mirrors was also sealed off127. The Grand Canal was drained to fool enemy aviators.
When the Germans arrived, the only staff left were the head curator, his wife and a disabled fireman. On June 15, 1940, the Nazi flag flew over the château, and on June 18, the Germans installed flak batteries in the gardens.
In October, Charles Mauricheau-Beaupré becomes chief curator of the château. This period is marked by images of German soldiers visiting the Hall of Mirrors, the birthplace of the German Empire. In July 1940, Goebbels visited the château; Hermann Göring also made several visits.Durant l'Occupation, les bâtiments souffrent d'infiltrations d'eau et du froid. Versailles est libéré le 25 août 1944.
At the end of WW2, the works were hung up and restoration work began, notably on the Queen's bedroom. In September 1944, Allied headquarters moved to the nearby Hotel Trianon Palace. Fred Astaire danced for the American soldiers in front of the château (on the garden side), who also visited the buildings to admire the paintings. The château reopened to the public in the spring of 1946.
The new rescue of Versailles - Mauricheau-Beaupré period
Already in 1951, the chief curator, Charles Mauricheau-Beaupré, alerted the Under-Secretary of State for Fine Arts, André Cornu, to the dilapidated state of Versailles: it was raining in the Hall of Mirrors, and the paintings were under threat.
After a one-day visit, the Minister estimated the cost of renovation at around 5 billion francs; in February 1952, he appealed to the French people on the radio for help, making them aware of the state of the former royal palace: “To tell you that Versailles is in danger of ruin is to tell you that Western culture is about to lose one of its noblest jewels. It is not only a masterpiece that the art of France must fear disappearing, but in each of us an image of France that no other can replace”.
A number of patrons immediately made themselves known: the Governor of the Banque de France (he donated ten million Francs), Georges Villiers (President of the Conseil National du Patronat Français), as well as numerous artists (writers Roger Nimier and Jean Cocteau, painters Henri Matisse and Maurice Utrillo), and above all the general public (children, soldiers, etc.).
The Domaine de Versailles, a hotel for heads of state?
Versailles has served as a national palace for the French presidency.
As such, it has hosted foreign heads of state, including Nikita Khrushchev in 1960, John Kennedy in 1961, Elizabeth II in 1957 and 1972, the Shah of Iran in 1974, Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985, Boris Yeltsin in 1992 and Vladimir Putin in 2017.
In 1959, General de Gaulle refurbished the Grand Trianon to accommodate foreign heads of state and their entourages: a wing was also reserved for the President of the French Republic (with “bedrooms, salons, kitchens, chapel”, etc.).
In 1999, these rooms were returned to the château. Only the Pavillon de la Lanterne on the south side of the park remained reserved for the Prime Minister until 2007, when Nicolas Sarkozy turned it into a secondary presidential residence.
In 1982, from June 4 to 6, it hosted the “Versailles Summit”, the 8th G7 meeting of the leaders of the seven most industrialized democratic countries.
But it was also the site of a terrorist attack. A symbolic site, the Château de Versailles was targeted on the night of June 25-26, 1978. A time bomb planted by two Breton nationalists damaged ten rooms, including the Galerie des Batailles, causing three million francs worth of damage.
Versailles is also home to the Garden, the Park, the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon châteaux and Marie-Antoinette's hamlet.
In the axis of the château, on the opposite side from the Versailles town entrance, are the Garden and Park, facing west/northwest.
At the foot of the château are the Garden, the Grand Canal and the Park.
From April to October, the 83-hectare gardens host the great musical and nocturnal events organized by Château de Versailles Spectacles.
The Park alone, covering almost 700 ha, includes 6 subsidiary structures that still exist today
La pièce d'eau des Suisses,
The Grand Canal,
The Grand Trianon, also known as the Marble Trianon (originally the Porcelain Trianon)
The Petit Trianon
The Queen's Hamlet (Marie-Antoinette)
Pavillon de la Lanterne (now a presidential summer residence)
The Menagerie
To find out more about the Park and its subsidiary structures, see URL
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