Versailles

= **History** =

When the Chateau was built, Versailles was a country village; today, it is a suburb of Paris. The court of Versailles was the centre of political power in France from 1682, when Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in 1789, after the beginning of the French Revolution. Versailles is famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the "Ancient Regime".

= **Characteristics** =

It is a royal chateau in Versailles in the Ile-de-France region of France. In French, it is the "Chateau de Versailles". Its floor space id of 67,000 square meters. It has 2,153 windows, 700 rooms, and 67 staircases. In the museum you can find: 6,123 paintings, 15,034 engravings and 2,102 sculptures. It is a cultural chateau. It is a Rennaisance style.

= **People and places** =

Louis XIII's successor, Louis XIV, had a great interest in Versailles. He settled on the Royal Hunting Lodge and over the following decades had it expanded into one of the largest palaces in the world. In 1,661, the architect Louis Le Vau, landscape architect Andre Le Notre, and painter-decorator Charles Le Brun began a renovation and expansion of the chateau. By moving his court and government to Versailles, Louis XIV hoped to extract more control of the government from the nobility, and to distance it from the population of Paris.

= **Renovations** =

It had 4 building campaigns:

1.(1664-1668) It involved alterations in the chateau and gardens to accommodate about 600 guests that were invited to a party.

2.(1669-1672) It was inaugurated with the signing of the Treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle. The chateau began to assume some of the appearance that it has today. The most importanr modification was Le Vau's envelope of Louis XIII's hunting lodge.

3.(1678-1684) It acquired much of the look that it has today. In addition to the hall of Mirrors, Hardovin-Mansart designed the north and south wings.

4.(1699-1710) It was concentrated on the construction of the Royal Chapel.

=** Floor plan **=

=** Illustrations **=



Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Versailles http://www.chateauversailles.fr/homepage

=** Group members **=

Maria Olga Lainfiesta Wahl :)