Versailles    Royal Hunting Lodge to Extraordinary Visitor Attraction

 

In the Carte de L’Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Chartres, a document pre-dating 1038, one of the signatories was Hugo de Versailles, the seigneur of Versailles.  During this period the village centred on a small castle and church.  This was destroyed by plague and the 100 years war (1332-1453).  In 1575 Albert De Gondi, a member of Henri II’s court purchased the title, he became captain of the first company of gentlemen of the King's household and  invited King Louis XIII on several hunting trips in the forests of Versailles.  Much taken with the location Louis decided to build a hunting lodge there.

Philbert Le Roi, royal engineer and architect, was employed in 1631 to create a chateau to replace the hunting lodge.  This small chateau of three wings around an open court remained as the core of the Sun King’s great palace of Versailles.   This first building, finished in 1634, was a simple construction with walls of cream coloured stone with stucco panels painted to resemble bricks, the roof was blue slate.  The colours were designed to reflect the red, white and blue of the King’s livery

When Louis XIII obtained the seigneury of Versailles from the Gondi family he began to make enlargements to the chateau.   The new building was a traditional design having an entrance court with a Corps de Logis (living quarters) on the West end, flanked by secondary wings on the North and South sides and closed off by an entrance screen.  Two service wings created a forecourt with a grilled entrance and the entire structure was surrounded by a moat. There were gardens on the West side of the chateau with a fountain and parterres to either side.


Louis XIII died in 1643 when his heir was only 4 years 8 months.  Louis XIV was crowned at the age of 15  and against tradition he declared that he would rule without a chief minister.  He viewed himself as the representative of God, endowed with divine right to rule with absolute power.  To illustrate his status he chose the sun as his emblem  and cultivated the image of the Roi-Soleil around whom the entire realm orbited.  “L’etat c’est moi” he said!

After Louis’ marriage to Maria Theresa of Spain, he decided to rebuild the chateau to transform it into a place where he could relax away from Paris and entertain on a lavish scale.  The first stage of the rebuild, 1661-78, was designed and supervised by Louis Le Vau.   He added two wings to the forecourt, one for servant quarters and one for stables.  This was added to by three new wings to the North, South and West of the original chateau.  The main floor contained two symmetrical apartments, one for the King and one for the Queen, separated by a marble terrace overlooking the gardens.  Under the King’s apartment were his private rooms decorated on the theme of Apollo and under the Queen’s was the apartment of the Dauphin.


The interior decoration of the palace was by Charles Le Brun.  He supervised a large group of sculptors and painters who crafted and painted the walls and ceilings and also designed and installed the many statues in the Gardens.  Andre Le Notre was commissioned to create the most magnificent gardens in Europe, containing fountains, statues, canals, parterres, groves and grottos.  There was even a menagerie and zoo.

As Louis spent more time at Versailles accompanied by his court the building became overcrowded so  he ordered a further enlargement choosing Jules Hardouin-Mansart as architect.  He added a second level and two additional wings to the original courtyard and replaced Le Vau’s terrace facing the gardens with what was to become the most famous room in the world, the Hall of Mirrors.  He also built the Petites and Grandes Ecuries (stables).   In 1682 Louis proclaimed Versailles as his principal residence and seat of government.  He was able to give rooms in the palace to most of his courtiers!  The Sun King died in 1715. 

Amongst the few changes that Louis XV made to the Palace was building the Royal Opera Theatre designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, finished in time for the wedding of Louis and Marie-Antoinette of Austria.  He also redesigned his own private apartments and  provided accommodation in another part of the Palace for his mistresses,  Madame De Pompadour and Madame Du Barry.  The King and Queen learned of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 and remained isolated at Versailles whilst the revolution spread.  The Royal family was taken to Paris in October 1789 and would never return.

Over the last two centuries the Palace of Versailles has developed into a magical tourist attraction with “Sol et Lumieres” and other entertainments in the gardens, with the interiors as magnificent and opulent as the Sun King would have wished.

Margaret  24th November 2020

     

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