Welcome to the magnificent Palace of Versailles, also known as Château de Versailles.
It is one of the most, if not the most, famous royal palaces in the world.
Not surprisingly, Château de Versailles has gotten its name from the surrounding city.
When the château was built, Versailles was a mere country village.
Today however, it is a suburb of Paris and one of France's most popular tourist destinations.
The palace has housed the royal court several times, and is therefore not only famous as
a building, but also as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy.
The history of the palace starts with the "Sun King", Louis the 14th.
He had grown up during the disorder of the Fronde; a short civil war between rival factions
of aristocrats.
For this reason, the newly appointed king wanted a center where he could organize and
completely control a government of France by absolute personal rule.
The place he chose for his new palace was the royal hunting lodge, located at the small
village of Versailles.
Louis the 14th quickly became more or less obsessed with his new palace, and spent the
majority of his time and effort on it.
What started as a hunting lodge was soon to become one of the largest palaces in the world.
The construction and expansion of the palace was done through four distinct building campaigns
over a 50 year period.
The first campaign started in mid 17th century and was initiated because Louis was about
to host a major party for the two queens of France.
During this phase, the palace witnessed alterations in the both the building and gardens in order
to accommodate the 600 guests invited to a party.
The second building campaign started a few years later.
During this campaign, the palace began to assume some of the appearance that it has
today.
This phase included the construction of several apartments and lodging facilities, including
the classic "Grand Appartement Du Roi".
The third campaign began some 10 years later.
During this phase, the Palace of Versailles acquired much of the look that it has today,
including the brilliant Hall of Mirrors.
It was at this time, in 1682, that Louis the 14th officially installed his court at Versailles.
By moving his court and government to Versailles, Louis hoped to extract more control of the
government from the nobility.
By now, all the power of France emanated from this center.
The government offices were moved here as well as the homes of thousands of courtiers
and their retinues.
With this, the village of Versailles quickly grew.
Louis the 14th undertook his last building campaign at Versailles at the start of the
18th century.
The fourth building campaign concentrated almost exclusively on construction of the
royal chapel as well as some modifications in the Appartement Du Roi.
After the death of the Louis the 14th in 1715, the five-year old king Louis the 15th with
his court returned to Paris but they would return a few years later.
During the reign of the new king, Versailles underwent transformation, but not on the scale
that had been seen during the reign of his great-grandfather.
The same was true for his successor, Louis the 16th.
Much of his contributions to Versailles were largely dictated by the unfinished projects
left to him by his grandfather.
Not surprisingly, Château de Versailles lost its function as a royal palace after the French
Revolution at the end of the 18th century.
The temporary government in charge, the National Convention, arranged for the majority of the
palace furniture to be either sold or rented.
Only items of particular artistic or intellectual value were exempt from the sale.
These items were consigned to be part of the collection of a museum, which had been planned
at the time of the sale of the palace furnishings.
During the time after the revolution - with Napoleon Bonaparte, the Bourbon Restoration
and the Second Empire - the palace received little attention.
It was primarily used for different state events and during visits by political and
royal foreigners.
It was not until after the Second World War that the palace once again reviewed some attention,
this time in the form of renovations.
A major project was initiated in the mid 20th century in an attempt to bring back to its
former glory and to once again put it on the world map.
A new roof to the Hall of Mirrors was added and several chambers and apartments were restored.
Additionally, a policy was established in which the French government would aggressively
seek to acquire as much of original furniture and artwork as possible, as much had been
dispersed at the time of the Revolution.
Today, the Palace is considered one of the very finest examples of French architecture
and one of Frances most famous structures.
It is visited by millions of people each year, which hardly comes as a surprise.
The palace has a lot to offer, so I will now let you do some exploring on your own.