Parterres and Paths in Versailles
At the foot of the Palace on the garden side there are three large parterres: North Parterre, South Parterre and Water Parterre. The latter is composed of two large rectangular pools. From here the North and South Parterres, as well as Latona’s Parterre, can be seen from above, offering a point of view which best […]
Campus Versailles
The Palace of Versailles is pursuing its ambition to pass on French skills and expertise in heritage and crafts by hosting a next-generation campus in the Great Stables. The project is being rolled out by the Versailles Education Authority alongside more than one hundred partners. It has the backing of the Île-de-France Region and the […]
Fountains in the Versailles Gardens
Water features of all kinds are an important part of French gardens, even more so than plant designs and groves. At Versailles, they include waterfalls in some of the groves, spurts of water in the fountains, and the calm surface of the water reflecting the sky and sun in the Water Parterre or the […]
The Queen’s Hamlet in Versailles
Marie-Antoinette’s reconfiguration of the Trianon gardens can be divided into two distinct phases. The first, starting in 1777, corresponds to the creation of the English Gardens. Subsequently, in 1783, she tasked Richard Mique with extending the gardens to the north and building a whole model village around an artificial lake. Work began in the summer […]
The French Gardens of the Petit Trianon in Versailles
Louis XV was always fond of Le Trianon. A passionate fan of gardening and botany, he made his first forays into these domains at the Château de Choisy, before turning his attentions to the area east of the Grand Trianon in the late 1740s. Over the years the gardens would continue to grow. The French Gardens […]
The Queen’s Theatre, in Versailles
A great lover of the dramatic arts, Marie-Antoinette eventually grew tired of the temporary stages knocked together for performances in the gallery of the Grand Trianon and the orangery of the Petit Trianon. Once she had decided to commission her personal architect Richard Mique to build her a real theatre, work was completed in spring […]
The Queen’s Apartments, in Versailles
The Queen’s Apartments, which overlook the Midi Parterre, are a series of rooms whose layout is identical to that of the King’s State Apartments to the north. Queen Maria Theresa, Louis XIV’s wife, was the first person to live in these apartments, but she died not long after moving in, in 1683. The layout of […]
The Gallery of Great Battles, in the Palace of Versailles
The Gallery of Great Battles is the most important of the historic Galleries created by Louis-Philippe in the Palace of Versailles. It covers almost the entire first floor of the South Wing of the Palace and depicts nearly 15 centuries of French military successes, from Clovis to Napoleon, through 30 or so paintings. The Gallery […]
The Hall of Mirrors
The Hall of Mirrors, the Peace Room and the War Room The Hall of Mirrors, the most famous room in the Palace, was built to replace a large terrace designed by the architect Louis Le Vau, which opened onto the garden. The terrace originally stood between the King’s Apartments to the north and the Queen’s […]