Royal Palace at Versailles. Palace of Versailles in France

Only representatives of the royal family have always had the right to die in the chambers of the Palace of Versailles. But for the sake of the Marquise de Pompadour, who was the official favorite, friend and adviser of Louis XV, privy to almost all the secrets of Versailles, the king made an exception.

She was smart, prudent, did not let the ruler get bored and relied on his passion for art, inviting the most famous and interesting people of that time to the palace - Montesquieu, Voltaire, Buffon, etc. And therefore managed to maintain the king’s favor even when lung disease made your dirty deed, undermining your health and destroying your beauty.

She died at the age of forty-three in the palace chambers and was buried in Paris near her daughter. They say that when the funeral procession headed towards the capital, the king, standing on one of the balconies of Versailles in the pouring rain, said: “Well, you chose terrible weather so that last time take a walk, madam." There was a deep sadness behind this joke.

The Palace of Versailles is located in one of the most respectable cities of France, Versailles, twenty kilometers from Paris in a south-west direction, at the address: Place d’Armes, 78000 Versailles. On the geographical map of the world, this unique architectural monument can be found at the following coordinates: 48° 48′ 15.85″ N. w, 2° 7′ 23.38″ h. d.

The history of Versailles began when Louis XIV saw the castle of the Minister of Finance Vaux-le-Vicomte, which was significantly superior in beauty, scale and grandeur to such royal residences as the Louvre and the Tuileres. The “sun king” could not tolerate this, and therefore decided to build a castle that would be a symbol of his absolute power. It was not by chance that he chose the city of Versailles for the construction of a new royal residence: the Fronde uprising had just recently occurred in France, and therefore living in the capital seemed quite dangerous to him.

Construction of the palace

Construction of the palace began in 1661 and more than 30 thousand builders were involved in the work (to increase the number of workers, Louis banned all private construction in the vicinity of the city, and peacetime soldiers and sailors were sent to the construction site). Despite the fact that during construction they saved on literally everything, in the end a huge amount of money was spent - 25 million liras or 19.5 tons of silver (almost 260 billion euros). And this, despite the fact that building materials They were sold to the king at the lowest prices, and the expenses of the performers, if they exceeded the estimate, were not paid.

Despite the fact that it was officially opened in 1682, construction work did not stop there, and the palace complex constantly grew due to the construction of new buildings until the French Revolution of 1789. The first architect of this unique monument Baroque architecture was Louis Levo, who was later replaced by Jules Hardouin-Monsard. Andre Le Nôtre was responsible for the design of the parks, which was carried out simultaneously with the construction of the palace, and the royal painter Lebrun was responsible for the interior decoration.

The work was complex: first it was necessary to drain the swamps, fill them with earth, sand and stones, then level the soil and create terraces. Instead of the village located there, it was necessary to establish a city where the courtiers, servants and guards were to settle.

In parallel with this, work was going on in the gardens. Considering that Louis XIV was called the “Sun King,” Le Nôtre planned the park of Versailles so that its alleys, when viewed from the upper floors of the palace, diverged from the center, like the rays of the sun. At the initial stage of work, it was necessary to dig canals and build a water supply system, which was originally intended to supply water to fountains and artificial waterfalls.

Considering that more than fifty fountains and ponds had to be supplied with water, this work was not easy - and the aqueduct that was originally built was not enough. In the end, after numerous trials and attempts, a hydraulic system was created, into which water came from the Seine flowing nearby.

Louis XIV died without completing his building in 1715, and after his death Louis XV, who was then only five years old, and with him the entire court left for the city of Paris for some time. True, he did not stay there long, after seven years he returned to Versailles and after some time ordered construction work to continue.

One of the significant changes he made to the layout was the demolition of the Ambassadors' Staircase, the only ceremonial road leading to the Great Royal Apartments, in order to build rooms for his daughters. He completed work on the opera hall and, at the insistence of his favorite Madame Pompadour, built the Petit Trianon.

In the last years of his life, Louis XV began to reconstruct the facades: according to one project, this was supposed to be work from the inner courtyards of the castle, in another - it was supposed to create facades in a classical style from the city side. It should be noted that this project lasted an extremely long time and was completed only at the end of the last century.

Description of Versailles

Experts say that the castle of Versailles was a place where monarchs, and with them the royal court, rested on a grand scale, weaved intrigues, conspiracies and created numerous secrets of Versailles. This tradition was founded by Louis XIV - and it was successfully continued by his descendants, and reached special proportions under Marie Antoinette, who loved to have fun with the courtiers and create the history of France, intriguing and creating the secrets of Versailles.

In the final version total area palace premises, not including the park, amounted to about 67 thousand square meters. It had 25 thousand windows, 67 staircases, 372 statues.

This is the main building in which several generations of French rulers lived. Officially, one could enter the castle through the main entrance - a cast-iron lattice gate decorated with gold with the royal coat of arms and crown. In front of the main façade of the castle, on the side of the Mirror Gallery, two equally elongated pools lined with granite slabs were installed.

On the right side of the entrance there was a two-story royal chapel (the second tier was intended for the monarch and members of his family, below were the courtiers). In the northern part there were the King’s Large Apartments, consisting of seven salons, in the southern part there were the chambers of the first ladies.

In total, Versailles has about seven hundred rooms for various purposes. The throne room of the palace was called the Salon of Apollo - here the monarch received foreign ambassadors, and in the evening theatrical performances and musical performances were often held here.

One of the most famous rooms is the Mirror Gallery, which has always played an important role in the life of the palace: significant receptions were held here, for which a silver throne was installed, as well as balls and lavish celebrations (for example, royal weddings). Here the courtiers crowded in anticipation of the king as he headed to the chapel - this was a great opportunity to present him with a petition.

The mirror gallery has always looked remarkable: its seventeen arch-shaped window openings open onto the garden, between them there are huge mirrors that visually enlarge the space (the gallery has 357 mirrors in total). The ceiling is extremely high, about 10.5 meters, and the room itself is 73 meters long and 11 meters wide. Since many of the mirrors are installed opposite the windows, it appears as if the gallery has windows on both sides. It is interesting that until 1689, the furniture here was made of pure silver, but then it was melted down into coins, which covered military expenses.

Grand Trianon

The castle is in a classic style, lined with pink marble. Monarchs were used for a wide variety of purposes: from meetings with favorites to hunting.

Petit Trianon

The palace represents a transition from the Rococo style to classicism and was built on the initiative of one of the favorites of Louis XV, the Marquise de Pompadour. True, she died several years before the completion of construction, and therefore another favorite, Countess DuBarry, lived in it. When Louis XVI became king, he handed over the castle to Marie Antoinette, where she took a break from palace life (even the king had no right to come here without her permission).

After some time, next to this palace, the queen built a small village with thatched roof houses, a windmill - in a word, as she imagined the life of peasants.

Park and gardens

The Palace of Versailles and the park are two inseparable concepts. The gardens of Versailles consist of huge number terraces, which gradually decrease as they move away from the castle. They occupy an area of ​​about one hundred hectares, and this entire territory is absolutely flat and it is impossible to find any small hill on it.

There are several palace buildings here, among them the Grand and Petit Trianon, the Empress Theater, the Belvedere, the Temple of Love, the French pavilion, a grotto, as well as observation decks, alleys, sculptures, a system of fountains and canals, which is why the gardens of Versailles are nicknamed “ little Venice."

The further fate of Versailles

For about a hundred years, the Palace of Versailles was the residence of French kings. This was the case until, as a result of the 1789 uprising, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were arrested and redirected to the city of Paris, where after some time they laid down their heads on the guillotine. After this, the Palace of Versailles almost immediately ceased to be the administrative and political center of France, and it itself was plundered, as a result of which many masterpieces were hopelessly lost.

When Bonaparte came to power, he took the castle under his protection and ordered to begin developing a plan for the restoration of the palace complex (for this, furniture was brought from Fontainebleau and the Louvre). True, all plans failed, and his empire collapsed. This only benefited Versailles, because the Bourbons returned to power, who began to actively restore the castle, and then handed it over to the museum.

The role of the castle in the life of society did not stop there, and the secrets of Versailles continued to unfold on the sidelines: when the Germans captured Versailles during the Franco-Prussian War, they placed their main headquarters here, and proclaimed the German Empire in the Mirror Gallery. Here, a month later, they signed a peace treaty with France, after which the French government met in the palace for some time.

After the end of the First World War, the French, in order to take revenge on the Germans, forced them to sign the Treaty of Versailles in the Gallery of Mirrors. But forty years after World War II, French-German reconciliation took place in the Palace of Versailles. After the war, the French began to raise money everywhere for the restoration of the castle, and over time, many lost values ​​returned to Versailles; UNESCO added it to its list, and at the beginning of the twenty-first century it joined the Association of European Royal Residences.

How to get to Versailles

Those wishing to get to Versailles on their own should take into account that the Palace of Versailles is closed to the public on Mondays. In addition, knowledgeable people do not recommend going here on Sunday, when the French have a day off, and Tuesday - on this day most of the museums in Paris are closed, and therefore many people come here. To avoid queues, it is better to arrive early in the morning or between 15.30 and 16.00.

Anyone who wants to get to this architectural monument on their own must first go to Paris, which is the largest city closest to Versailles. Then there are several options: you can get to the Palace of Versailles by train or by bus.

Then you need to independently drive to the railway station and take one of the three Versailles Paris train routes (the journey will take about forty minutes). If you take line C, you should take into account that the train leaves from here every fifteen minutes, and you will need to pay about 2.5 euros for a ticket. But a trip from Paris Saint Lazare station will cost one euro more. In addition, a train runs from Paris Montparnasse station once an hour to the city where the residence of the kings is located.

Those wishing to travel independently by bus to Versailles can be advised to take route No. 171, the stop of which is located at the Pont de Servres station at the end of the ninth metro line. In this case, the journey will take about thirty-five minutes, and the ticket will cost less – about one and a half euros.

Versailles (Versailles) is the former residence of French kings, now a village located near Paris. The history began with Louis XIV, who turned the hunting area into a palace and park ensemble.

Louis Leveau is the first architect to turn the king's dreams into reality, followed by Jules Hardouin-Mont-Sar. The latter tortured workers and the treasury for thirty years. It was here that the entire royal court settled, and it was here that numerous balls and brilliant celebrations took place.

The area of ​​the Versailles park area occupies 101 hectares. Thanks to the whole system of canals, the village is called “little Venice”. The territory contains a huge number of observation platforms, alleys, and promenades.

How to get to Versailles

You can get to Versailles from three train stations.

From Gare de Paris-Saint-Lazare:

• By train on line L to the Gare de Viroflay Rive Droite station, and by bus number 171 from the Gabriel Peri metro station to the castle. You will need to walk a short distance, about 500 meters. The total travel time is about 1 hour.
• Take the L train to Versailles - Rive Droite station. The station is almost 2 km away from the castle, which will have to be covered on foot. The total travel time will be about 1 hour.

From Gare d'Austerlitz:

• You can take the RER C commuter train to Gare de Versailles Château Rive Gauche station, which is 950 meters from Versailles. This distance will need to be covered on foot.
  The total travel time will be about 1 hour.

From Gare du Nord

• First, take the Rer B train two stops to the Saint-Michel – Notre-Dame station, then change to the RER C and go to Gare de Versailles Château Rive Gauche
  Upon arrival at the station you will need to walk about 1 km to the park area. The total travel time is just over 1 hour.

You can travel to Versailles using a travel pass, a day pass (zones 1-5), and (zones 1-5) will also do.

A single ticket will cost 7.60 euros.

• (55.00 €)
• (70.00 €)

Accommodation in Versailles

The territory of Versailles is incredibly huge, there really is something to see here, so one day is not always enough to go around everything and enjoy the walk. To enjoy visiting the palace and park complex, take at least two days for a leisurely walk, without fuss. We bring to your attention hotels at the best prices in Versailles.

Sights of Versailles

Many people associate Versailles only with the castle of the same name. It is worth knowing that Versailles is a large complex of buildings, one might say a town, in which all royal needs were provided.

Grand Trianon

This royal palace in Versailles. The name of the palace was inherited from the ancient village of Trianon, formerly located on this territory. Here Louis XIV took a break from court life with Madame Maintenon. The construction of the Grand Trianon lasted 4 years (1687-1691) under the leadership of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, and Louis himself independently developed most of the architectural solutions. This is how a building appeared, decorated with a balustrade and huge arched windows, decorated with pale pink marble.

The palace consists of two wings connected by a gallery - peristyle, the project of which was developed by Robert de Cotte. The facade of the Grand Trianon opens onto a large courtyard. In this part of the building the peristyle is made in the form of an elegant arcade. Behind the palace there is a park with lawns, fountains, ponds and flower arrangements. On this side, the peristyle is made in the form of double marble columns. The Grand Trianon palace and park complex occupies 23 hectares and is open to tourists.

Palace of Versailles (Château de Versailles)

This is not just the main attraction of the palace and park complex, but a symbol an entire era in the history of the French monarchy, and one of the largest in all respects. Initially, King Louis III liked the lands in this part of the suburbs of Paris, but the idea of ​​​​building the Palace of Versailles belonged to his son, Louis XIV. Later, his grandson, Louis XV, also contributed to the image of the palace complex. The palace demonstrates to the whole world the power of absolute power. For the construction of the palace and garden and park complex, 800 hectares of swamps were dried. Construction continued for more than half a century by peasants and the national army; The cost of the palace in terms of modern currency cost hundreds of billions of euros. The decoration of the interior dazzling with an abundance of luxury and unique works of art - frescoes and paintings, wood carvings, marble sculptures, silk carpets self made, a lot of gold, crystal and mirrors. The splendor of the Versailles palace complex made a strong impression on Peter I, and after his visit the Tsar conceived the idea of ​​building the famous ensemble in Peterhof.

When the monarchy fell, the bourgeoisie came to power, and the revolutionary-minded Duke of Orleans, Louis-Philippe of Versailles, took the crown in 1830, changed its status and became a museum, over time, the Museum of French History (Musée de l’Histoire de France). The revolutionary period was not the most in the best possible way affected the condition of the Palace of Versailles. Many premises were neglected, or even completely destroyed, and furniture and works of art were looted. Restoration work began immediately after the revolution, at the behest of Louis Philippe. Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was also concerned about the fate of the building and regularly allocated funds for its repair. Gradually, the Hall of Mirrors and the luxurious gold panels of the palace were restored, some of the stolen works of art were returned, some of the paintings and interior items had to be recreated. The restoration of Versailles continues - large-scale the reconstruction of the palace, which began in 1952 and lasted almost 30 years, did not solve all the problems. Therefore, in 2003, the French authorities announced the beginning of a 17-year restoration of Versailles. Already, the original layout of the Versailles gardens has been completely restored, and in the inner Marble Courtyard the royal grille has once again shone with gold.

Versailles Park (Parc de Versailles)

Unique landscape compositions that are considered perhaps the most exquisite in the world. In 1661, in parallel with the construction of the palace, King Louis XIV commissioned the landscape architect André Le Nôtre to create a park that would not only be in harmony with the grandeur of the royal buildings, but also surpass all known parks in terms of luxury. The construction of Versailles Park took more than 40 years, but The monarch was pleased with the result obtained - a breathtaking panorama opened up immediately upon exiting the palace through the Marble Courtyard.

After the Great French Revolution, it was decided to open a museum in the Palace of Versailles, and since then, walks along the picturesque alleys of the royal park are available to all tourists.

Ballroom (Salle du Jeu de paume)

From an architectural point of view, it is not particularly remarkable, although it was built next to the Palace of Versailles back in 1686. It is quite possible that this room would remain in the annals of history as the place where royal sports were held. But Fate decreed differently... Life at the court of the French kings of the 17th century was described by contemporaries as endless receptions with a series of entertainment events. Such a pastime meant not only balls and enchanting performances, but also sports.

The Sun King, known throughout the world, was very fond of playing ball - a kind of analogue of tennis of that time. The courtiers actively supported their monarch in this hobby, therefore, the Ball Game Hall was quite a popular place. However, the Ball Game Hall gained worldwide fame for a completely different reason - in this room in 1789, representatives of French townspeople, under the leadership of Jean Bailly, took a solemn oath to preserve their alliance to create a constitution for the kingdom.

Today, in the Games Hall there is a museum, the exhibition of which tells about historical event, which brought the French Revolution closer: a sculpture of a speaker by Jean Bailly, busts of deputies and a huge canvas depicting Constituent Assembly at the time of taking the oath.

Petit Trianon

Modern historians believe that the palace was built by Louis XV for the Marquise de Pompadour as a sign of the monarch's favor. The palace was designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, a court architect and supporter of classicism. Construction lasted about 6 years and was completed in 1768. The building turned out to be small, simple, architecturally consistent - without the elaborate decoration inherent in the architecture of the first half of the 18th century, but the interior decoration of the Petit Trianon is made in the Rococo style.

The two-story palace looks very elegant - classic French windows, pilasters and an Italian balustrade at the top, Corinthian columns and a wide stone terrace at the base.

Today the Petit Trianon is a museum dedicated to Queen Marie Antoinette. Its exhibition features paintings from the 18th century, as well as furniture and interior items that restore the atmosphere typical of that era.

Municipal Museum of Lambinet

Dedicated to the history of the city, located near the Palace of Versailles, erected in 1750. The design of the three-story building, developed by Elie Blanchard, included all the stylistic features characteristic of that time - French windows, small balconies with patterned grilles and the crown of the facade, a classic pediment with a sculptural composition allegorical themes.

In 1852, the mansion became the property of Victor Lambine, whose descendants, 80 years later, donated the building to the city to organize a museum in it. Today, the exposition of the Lambinet Museum presents three areas - the history of the development of the city, captured in documents from different eras, a collection of art objects of the 16th-20th centuries and the reconstruction of interiors of the 18th century. A total of 35 rooms are available for inspection, and in most of them the original decoration and paintings have been preserved , furniture, sculptures and many interior items - gilded watches and candelabra, dishes, crystal lamps and vases complete the decor, returning visitors to the atmosphere of the 18th century.

Former Royal Hospital (Ancien Hôpital Royal de Versailles)

Also known as Hôpital Richaud, it is located near the local train station; received the status historical monument relatively recently - in 1980. Under Louis XIII, a need arose for buildings of a social nature - in 1636, a small almshouse was built, which existed on rather modest funds received from charitable communities. Under Louis XV, the almshouse was transformed into a royal hospital, financed by the treasury. The hospital premises were rebuilt and significantly expanded by order of Louis XVI.

The design of the new building, carried out by the architect Charles-François-d'Arnaudin, included 3 buildings: in the central part of the building, the elderly were housed, and in the two side ones, the sick. In addition, a church was erected next to the hospital, adjacent directly to the buildings, so that patients could get to church service without going outside. The service in the hospital was also at the same level - excellent living conditions, good food and repeated cleaning.As a hospital, the building existed until recently, and then part of it was sold to a transport company.

Cathedral of Saint-Louis

It was originally conceived as an ordinary parish church.

However, in 1684, when, after the destruction of the Church of St. Julian of Briuda, the southern part of Versailles was left without a church building, the chapel built in its place had to be given, albeit temporary, the status of a parish church. And since, along with the status, came the name - the Church of St. Louis, it was decided to build a real church worthy of bearing the name of the angel of crowned monarchs. In 1742, the project of the future cathedral was approved by Louis XV and construction began. It is curious that the author of the project turned out to be the hereditary architect Jacques Hardouin Mansart, the grandson of the same Jules Mansart who “invented” the Palace of Versailles in his time.

Construction dragged on for a long time and ended after 12 years. The king was not present at the inauguration of the new church; the day before, on August 23, 1754, His Majesty’s heir, the future King Louis XVI, was born. But, a year later, the monarch compensated for the lack of attention by donating 6 bells to the church with the names of the royal heirs. A large organ appeared in the Versailles Cathedral in 1761, and also, thanks to the mercy of the king - Louis personally supervised the manufacture of the instrument by the best master of that time, Francois Henri Clicquot. True, status Cathedral The Church of St. Louis received it much later, in 1843. Today, the Versailles Cathedral is not only a place for regular Catholic masses, but also a kind of concert venue for modern chamber music performers.

Lycee Hoche

Current educational institution, located in a historic building of Versailles.

The building, within the walls of which the Ghosh Lyceum was later located, was erected according to the design of Richard Meek, the royal architect and a great admirer of neoclassicism. The Ursuline Convent (Couvent de la Reine), founded in 1766, was called upon to fulfill a very important mission - to provide an acceptable education to girls whose parents served in the royal court. For 20 years, the monastery, supervised by the queen, enjoyed great success During this period, hundreds of girls received an excellent education. But in 1789, after the departure of the royal family from Versailles, both the monastery and its activities gradually declined, and after the French Revolution it completely changed its profile and turned into a military hospital.

About a successful reputation in matters of upbringing and education former monastery, the authorities of Versailles recalled in 1802, when the issue of educating children from wealthy families became acute. A year later, a secondary school opens in the building. And some time later, the reconstruction of its premises began, upon completion of which in 1888 a new French lyceum was opened, named after Gauche, in honor of General Lazarus Gauche, who was born in Versailles. The lyceum is successfully functioning to this day. And among its graduates there are many celebrities, including former French President Jacques Chirac.

Mansion of Foreign Affairs (Hôtel des Affaires Etrangères)

It stands out among the historical buildings of Versailles not only as an object of architectural art, but also as the room where negotiations took place, thanks to which the Treaties of Versailles and Paris were signed. This marked the end of the US Colonial War of Independence in 1783. The order for the construction of the mansion came in 1761 from the French Foreign Minister during the reign of Louis XV, Francois Choiseul. The main part of the building was planned to be used as an archive storage room, and the remaining rooms would conveniently accommodate the ministry’s auxiliary services. The development of the project was entrusted to Jean-Baptiste Berthier, an architect favored by the king.

And as it turned out, it was not in vain - the four-story mansion building made of brick and stone has a very representative appearance not only from the outside, but also from the inside. The facade of the building, according to the style of that time, is decorated with pilasters with ornaments in the form of symbols of monarchism, the top of which is crowned with statues depicting War and Peace. The entrance to the building is an impressive-sized door with richly gilded decoration. The interior decoration of the premises has been partially preserved in its original form - the front gallery of the first floor with its wooden panels and gold trim, archival cabinets built into the walls. Nowadays there is a municipal library here, some of the books of which still remember the Palace of Versailles and its first owners - the kings.

Church of Our Lady (Eglise Notre-Dame)

It is no coincidence that it rises next to the Palace of Versailles: the palace was listed as an official parish of the church, therefore, all the main events in the life of the royal family took place within its walls. It was here that the newborn heirs of the king were baptized, as well as the monarch’s relatives were married or seen off on their last journey. The urgent need to have the opportunity to visit a church in accessible proximity arose for Louis XIV in parallel with his move to the Palace of Versailles. Being an ardent supporter of Catholicism, the king first of all took care of his spiritual refuge.

Louis entrusted the creation of the project to his trusted architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart, and in 1684 the construction of the church began. In 2 years, the Versailles Church of the Virgin was completely built.

Judging by the records of the parish register, representatives of the monarchical dynasty visited the church regularly. From the point of view of architects, the Church of Our Lady is a vivid embodiment of the traditions of French classicism; from the point of view of parishioners and tourists visiting the church, it is a little massive, but surprisingly beautiful and harmonious a two-tier building. And under the pediment crowning the church with a symbolic image of angels holding the royal crown above the sun, there is a clock, the gilded hands of which count the time in the same rhythmic manner as under Louis XIV.

Madame Elisabeth's Castle (Château du domaine de Montreuil)

That was the name of his last owner - Elizabeth of France, granddaughter of Louis XV and sister of the last French monarch. The sad story of the life of Princess Elizabeth causes special treatment to everything that surrounded her, and the Montreuil estate even more so. The history of the Montreuil estate goes back to XII century. At first, it was a fortress, then, by order of Charles VI, it was a monastery of the Celestians. Centuries later, the estate became part of Versailles - Louis XVI acquired it to give it to his beloved younger sister. It was then that these lands, with an area of ​​8 hectares, received their new name - the estate of Madame Elizabeth.

The castle in which the princess spent most of her life is not distinguished by either the originality of its architectural solutions or the richness of its exterior. Visually, the building can be divided into three parts - two symmetrical three-story buildings connected by a two-level pavilion. But for Elizabeth, the external decoration did not play a special role - she sincerely cared about people and even opened a special room in the palace in which the doctor received the poor in order to help them necessary help. When did it start French Revolution, the patriotic Elizabeth did not want to leave the country and the people close to her, and shared the fate of the royal family, sentenced to execution.

Town Hall (Hôtel de Ville)

It appeared in Versailles only in the 18th century, when orders stopped coming from the Palace of Versailles regarding the way of life of the townspeople. In 1670, a mansion was built for the French Marshal Bernardin Gigot. In fact, this building, which in the future was to become the building of the city administration of Versailles, was a real palace, the main entrance of which, according to etiquette, was facing the royal palace. It is not surprising that when the opportunity arose, Louis XIV immediately purchased this mansion for his illegitimate daughter of the Princesse de Conti. From that moment on, it became a tradition to organize lavish receptions, balls and simply any celebrations in the mansion-palace. This continued even after the princess was replaced by a new owner, the nephew of Louis XV, Louis IV Henry, better known as the Duke of Bourbon-Condé. But the French Revolution swept through the country like a hurricane, destroying to the ground not only the old political building, but also many buildings associated with it. The Conti mansion was also among the objectionable ones. The building in which the modern local administration of Versailles now carries out its duties, although it was built on the same site, is just a stylization of the era of Louis XIII. But this is the first real Town Hall of Versailles.

Théâtre Montansier

It was built on the initiative of Queen Marie Antoinette and with the full approval of King Louis XV. However, the author of the idea of ​​​​creating a new theater hall in France belongs to talented actress Madame Montansier. Madame Montansier's theatrical experience before meeting the French queen was not the most successful: either her ideas did not find a response, or her successes haunted her competitors. Nevertheless, Madame Montansier persistently sought the opportunity to realize her dream - the creation of a theater that was not similar to those already known. Thanks to connections at court, Madame Montansier achieved a reception with the queen and was able to awaken her interest in her plan.

The new theater opened in November 1777 in Versailles, next to the royal palace. The ceremony was attended not only by Marie Antoinette, but also by King Louis XV himself, who was pleased with the visit to the theater. The king and queen were especially impressed by the semicircular shape of the stage, excellent acoustics, realistic decorations and the use of mechanisms, which at that time was regarded as innovation. The decoration of the hall did not go unnoticed - thanks to the soft blue background of the interior, the gilded decorative elements looked very solemn. And the possibility of direct exit from the theater directly to the royal palace finally endeared the king to the Theater.

Today, the Montansier Theater is an officially registered institution, as well as an officially recognized historical monument.

Tickets to Versailles

There are several types of tickets: passports for one or two days, as well as tickets for visiting individual attractions.

One day ticket: 20 euros
Two-day ticket: 25 euros
One-day ticket with visit to the music gardens (April-October): 27 euros
Ticket for two days with a visit to the music gardens (April-October): 30 euros
Ticket to the Palace of Versailles: 18 euros
Ticket to the Grand and Petit Trianon: 12 euros

How to get there

Address: Place d'Armes, Paris 78000
Website: chateauversailles.fr
RER train: Versailles - Chateau

The Palace of Versailles was the political capital of France for over a century and home to the royal court from 1682 to 1789. Today the palace complex is one of the most popular tourist attractions.

Myths and facts

Shrouded in many legends, Versailles has become a symbol absolute monarchy Louis XIV. According to legend, the young king decided to build a new palace outside the city, since the Louvre in Paris was unsafe at that time. And from 1661, in the city of Versailles, now a suburb of Paris, Louis began transforming a modest hunting lodge into a sparkling palace. To do this, it was necessary to drain more than 800 hectares of swamps (the entire territory occupied by the complex), where entire forests were moved to create 100 hectares of gardens, alleys, flower beds, lakes and fountains.

The Palace of Versailles served as the political center of France. It became home to 6,000 courtiers! Louis XIV lulled his subjects by providing lavish entertainment and rewarding them with royal favors. So Louis tried to distance himself from the political intrigues of Paris, so he created a place where the aristocracy could live under his watchful eye. The grand size of the palace and the wealth on display demonstrated the absolute power of the monarch.

The construction of the palace required about 30,000 workers and 25 million livres, which in total amounted to 10,500 tons of silver (according to experts, in modern money, this amount is equal to 259.56 billion euros). This is despite the fact that construction was carried out with extreme economy and according to the most low prices, because of which many fireplaces subsequently did not work, the windows did not close, and living in the palace in winter was extremely uncomfortable. But the nobles were forced to live under the supervision of Louis, since those who left the Palace of Versailles lost their ranks and privileges.

What to see

The architectural complex embodied the ideas of absolutism - perfectly calculated, laid out along a line. The main building houses the Great Halls and Bedrooms, decorated with ostentatious luxury by Charles Lebrun. Every corner, ceiling and wall of the palace is covered in detailed marble, frescoes, paintings, sculptures, velvet draperies, silk carpets, gilded bronze and tinted glass. These salons are dedicated to Greek deities such as Hercules and Mercury. Louis chose the room of Apollo, the sun god, as the throne room of the Sun King (as Louis XIV was called in France).

The most spectacular of all is the Hall of Mirrors. On the 70-meter-long wall there are 17 huge mirrors with gilded sculptures-lamps between them. In those days, highly polished brass or metal was still used as mirrors in France. Especially for the construction of the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the French Minister of Finance, brought Venetian workers to begin production of mirrors in France.

It was here, in the Hall of Mirrors, that the famous Treaty of Versailles was signed between Germany and the Allied powers in 1919, which decided the fate of the post-war era. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were married in the white and gold Baroque chapel in 1770. The Palace of Versailles is also famous for its opera and theater with a huge oval hall lit by 10,000 candles.

The surroundings of the palace are no less interesting. The creation of the gardens at Versailles required legions of workers and the genius of landscape designer Andre Le Nôtre, who embodied the standard of French classicism. Even during construction, the monarchs tried to copy the palace park, (),. But no one managed to surpass the scope and beauty of the Versailles Park.

The central axis of the garden is the 1.6 km long Grand Canal with a western orientation so that the setting sun is reflected in the water surface. Around it, geometrically trimmed trees and flower beds are planted, paths, ponds and lakes are laid out. By the time construction was completed, the park had 1,400 fountains. The most impressive of them is the chariot - another monument to the glory of the Sun King.

On the sides of the alleys there are groves where the courtiers danced in the summer against the backdrop of garden stones, shells and decorative lamps. Marble and bronze statues line the paths. In winter, more than 3,000 trees and shrubs were transferred to the Versailles greenhouse.

Two smaller palaces stand on the opposite side of the garden. Louis XIV built the pink marble Grand Trianon as a break from the etiquette of court life ("Trianon" means a place for solitude, quiet time). In the main palace, for example, the king usually dined alone in the presence of hundreds of spectators. Gala dinners were held strictly according to the protocol of the appropriate rank. To prepare food for the constant banquets, the palace employed 2,000 workers in the kitchen.

The Petit Trianon was a love nest built by Louis XV for Madame du Barry. Later, this neoclassical mini-palace attracted the attention of Marie Antoinette, who also wanted to escape the rigid formality of the main palace. Nearby, for the entertainment of Marie Antoinette, a tiny village with a dairy farm was built. Small thatched houses, a watermill and lakes lived up to the royal fantasy of peasant life.

Ironically, the lavish gifts and frivolity of this queen after such an expensive construction of the palace complex practically liquidated the French treasury and led to the fall of the royal monarchy in 1789.

If you expect to spend the whole day here, it is better to purchase a combined ticket costing 21.75 euros, which includes travel and entry to all parks of the complex. You will find similar combined offers in the castles of Fontainebleau, d'Auvers and the Louvre. Don't forget to visit, whose popularity can only be rivaled.

The Palace of Versailles (Château de Versailles) is open from April to October: from 9.00 to 18.30 every day except Monday (ticket office closes at 17.50). The garden is open daily from 8.00 to 20.30. In winter: from 9.00 to 17.30. Garden – until 18.00.

Cost: 15 euros (including use of an audio guide in one of 10 languages). Children school age and EU students - 13 euros. Every first Sunday in winter, admission to the museum is free.
A comprehensive ticket costs 18 euros (visiting the palace, Petit and Grand Trianons). During Musical and Fountain Festivals the cost of a combined ticket is 25 euros.
How to get there: by metro to Versailles-Rive Gauche station, located 15 minutes. walking.
Official website:

Versailles

In 1655-1661, N. Fouquet, the largest financier of absolutist France, rebuilt his country castle according to the design of the architect Louis le Vaux. The main thing in the Vaux-le-Vicomte palace and park ensemble was not even the palace itself, which was quite modest at that time, but the general principle of creating a country residence. The whole of it was turned into a giant park, skillfully designed by the architect-gardener Andre Le Nôtre.
The Vaux-le-Vicomte Palace demonstrated the new lifestyle of the French aristocrat - in nature, outside the walls of a cramped, crowded city. Louis XIV liked the palace and park so much that he could not come to terms with the idea that they were not his property. The French king immediately imprisoned Fouquet and entrusted the architects Louis Levo and Andre Le Nôtre with the construction of his palace at Versailles.

The palace and park ensemble of Versailles is greatest monument architecture of the 17th century, which had a strong influence on the urban planning thought of the 18th century. Versailles generally became a kind of “ideal city”, which the authors of the Renaissance dreamed and wrote about and which, through the will of Louis XIV, the “Sun King”, and the art of his architects and gardeners, turned out to be realized in reality, and in close proximity to Paris.
Versailles began with a park; it was here that the first work was carried out. And as soon as these works began, they immediately began to acquire greater scope and continued without stopping for decades.
The royal architect A. Le Nôtre began planning the grandiose area allocated for the park, when the young Louis XIV was still quite happy with his father’s small hunting lodge. By order of the king, it was only slightly renovated, landscaped and decorated. When the idea of ​​expanding the old hunting lodge and adding buildings to it completely crystallized, the architect Levo and the park designer Le Nôtre developed a new project, taking into account their own plans.
One of the main ideas of the design was to cover the entire vast space with a single glance, which is why many of the spectacular effects at Versailles are truly revealed only from a high vantage point. Thanks to the open layout, the park of Versailles is perfectly visible, since throughout its entire territory there are no sudden changes in the level of the soil, since it was leveled in advance.
It all started with the titanic work of draining the swamps, putting earth, sand and stones in their place, leveling the soil and creating artificial terraces. Then the workers began to dig canals and build a water supply system, which already in the initial period of construction of Versailles was intended for the future famous fountains and cascades.
In front of the facade of the palace, in front of the windows of the famous Mirror Gallery, in a completely open space, two very elongated pools, enclosed in granite frames, stretch symmetrically. These pools immediately attracted attention, attracting with their cold beauty, when their mirror surface reflected the sky, the rays of the setting sun and the palace itself. The sides of the pool at the beveled corners were decorated with sculptures symbolizing the water element of the French kingdom.
In 1683, a group of Armenian merchants visited Versailles, who left an enthusiastic description of their trip: “On the first terrace there were five pools full of water, and in the pools floated a variety of artificial flowers made of gilded copper... On the other terrace there were also five pools full of water, and in the water there is a sea horse and people with water coming out of their mouths. And around the pools there were frogs, monkeys and all kinds of animals that were blowing out the water. Below this was another circular pool, around which the four seasons were represented. Each season had its own animals that blew water out of their mouths. No matter how many sea and air, mountain and plain there are in the world, no matter how many of God’s creatures there are: various birds, animals, beasts, reptiles - all this has been done, and water comes out of everyone’s mouths. And below this there was a long lake, on which there were 17 large and small ships, decorated with gold, both with cannons and without cannons. They say that once the Dauphin, on the occasion of the birth of his son, poured wine instead of water into these pools and fountains everywhere. Even that large swimming pool, where 17 ships sailed. And he told the whole country, and everyone came: big and small, men and women, old and young. And they all ate and drank for seven days. The Dauphin honored all the inhabitants, and they drank a lot, but still a lot of wine remained in place.”
Behind the pools began the descent along the Grand Staircase. At its foot lies a space on which, among giant green parterres decorated with four “antique” vases, there is a round pool with the “Latona fountain”.
The nymph Latona was the lover of Zeus and was forced to flee to escape the persecution of the jealous Hera. Chased by the dragon sent by Hera, she wandered all over the world, until she finally took refuge on the island of Delos, which at that time was rushing along the waves of a stormy sea. As soon as Latona entered the island, huge pillars rose from the depths of the sea and stopped this deserted island.


The sea roared around Delos. Bare rocks rose sadly on the island, without the slightest vegetation. Only sea gulls found shelter on these rocks and filled them with their sad cry. Exhausted from fatigue and thirst, the nymph asked for water from the people working on the island, but they refused her. And then, angry, Latona turned them all into frogs. On this island the golden-haired god Apollo and his sister Artemis were born, and streams of bright light immediately spread everywhere. They covered the rocks of Delos like gold. Everything around blossomed and sparkled: the coastal cliffs, Mount Kint, the valley, and the sea.
Based on the plot of this ancient Greek myth, a large sculptural group was created from lead, sometimes gilded. The sides of the pool run in concentric circles, rising up like a pyramid. Frogs and some other strange creatures are sitting on them: they seem to be people, but at the same time with frog heads - as if the terrible transformation of a person into a reptile is happening right before our eyes. Countless streams of water pouring out from these creatures hide Latona.
A central alley leads from the “Latona Fountain” to a wide green lawn framed by clumps of ancient trees. In the depths of the lawn there is, like a response echo to the “Fountain of Latona,” the famous pool with the figure of Apollo riding out in a chariot to meet his mother. The “Apollo Fountain” was created by the sculptor Tubi based on the sketches of C. Lebrun on the site of an old swimming pool, but soon began to play and sparkle with its water jets. Under great pressure, the central jet is forcefully thrown upward to a height of 25 meters, and the fifteen-meter side jets, rushing upward, outline a lily flower - the emblem of the French kings.
"Apollo's Fountain" represents a woman bursting out of the water and flying towards to the rising sun a chariot harnessed to four rearing horses. And the sea newts, releasing from them, hide from them in their shells. water depth sun rays. The entire sculptural composition of the “Apollo Fountain” represents the apotheosis of the ancient god, but for Versailles it was undoubtedly the apotheosis of Louis XIV.
The final touch of the park planned by Le Nôtre was the Grand Canal, stretching for more than one and a half kilometers (1520 meters), with two branches spread out to the sides on the very horizon. The vast expanses of water of the canal not only merge with the horizon, they seem to carry you far beyond the park - to where the fabulous blue distances begin. On summer evenings, the solar disk, reflected in the mirror of the water, slowly sinks into the Grand Canal, coloring its waters with a hot sunset glow. The Grand Canal was not only a majestic decoration of the Versailles park: it became an absolutely necessary structure from a practical point of view, as it cleared the entire area, absorbing the waters of the swampy valley.
At the height of construction work at Versailles, there was a shortage of workers, so soldiers and sailors were often called in to help. From the south side the view of the park was completed Swiss lake, dug by soldiers of the Swiss Guard. They dug a whole system of ponds on the site of old swamps, which were intended not only for fun and fishing, but also served as a system of irrigation devices that drained the southern approaches to the palace.
To the north of the Palace of Versailles is the North Parterre, framed by yew trees and decorated with bronze sculptures of the Grinder and the lovely Crouching Venus. From the Northern parterre, a staircase leads to the round pools “Crown” and “Sirens” and to the “Pyramid” fountain, absolutely fabulous in design and beauty of execution.


The “Pyramid” fountain was invented by C. Lebrun, and executed by F. Girardon. Lead and gilded newts, dolphins and lobsters, releasing dozens of water jets, carry pools stacked one on top of the other and decreasing in size.
The famous “Alley of Water,” which is also called the “Theater of Water,” was designed by J. Hardouin-Mansart. It is bordered by fourteen small round white marble ponds, following each other in steps. They are decorated with bronze figures of children holding a bowl filled with fruits and flowers. The "Water Alley" leads to the highest fountain in the Versailles park - the "Dragon", the central jet of which shoots up 47 meters.
Not far from the “Dragon” the Neptune fountain sparkles with its mirror-like surface. This building is somewhat historical, as it took 60 years to build. The Neptune Fountain is a grandiose amphitheater with 22 decorative lead vases placed along its slopes. The central sculptural group - Neptune and Amphitrite - is located at the foot of the fountain.
This is what the legend is about. Deep in the depths of the sea stands the wonderful palace of the earth shaker Poseidon (Neptune). Poseidon rules over the seas, and the waves of the sea are obedient to the slightest movement of his hand, armed with a formidable trident. There, in the depths of the sea, his beautiful wife Amphitrite, the daughter of the prophetic sea elder Nereus, lives with Poseidon. Poseidon saw her when she was dancing in a circle with her Nereid sisters on the shore of the island of Naxos, was captivated by her beauty and wanted to take her away in his chariot. But Amphitrite took refuge with the titan Atlas, who holds on his mighty shoulders firmament. For a long time Poseidon could not find the beautiful daughter of Nereus. Finally, a dolphin opened her refuge to him; in gratitude for this service, Poseidon placed the dolphin among the celestial constellations.
Next to Poseidon and Amphitrite is the “Ocean”, and the entire ensemble is completed by the sculptural group “Cupids Accompanying the Sea Dragon”.

Versailles of Louis XIII

Could Louis XIII, who built a modest hunting lodge in Versailles, know that his son and successor, the great Sun King, would turn this place so dear to him into a symbol of absolute monarchy, into a miracle of architecture, the luxury and splendor of which no palace in the world could surpass?

Louis XIII built a hunting lodge near the village of Versailles, pursuing completely different goals. Louis XIII was not even six years old when, on August 24, 1607, he, being only the Dauphin, came to Versailles for the first time with his father Henry IV for falconry. Hunting trips with his father to Versailles were not erased from the Dauphin’s memory; Having become king, he will prefer the lands of Versailles and Saint-Germain to all other places for hunting.

At that time, the village of Versailles included about 500 people, a modest church was dedicated to Saint Julien, a windmill rose on the hill, and tired hunters, including Henry IV, stopped for the night at four inns. The Versailles domain was ruled by Henri de Gondi, Bishop of Paris, whose nephew subsequently, having become an adult, ceded this land to his other uncle Jean-François de Gondi, Archbishop of Paris and the last owner of Versailles from the Gondi family.

The village was surrounded by the magnificent forests of the Ile-de-France, full of game, endless fields and marshes - an ideal place for hunting at any time of the year. Located 17 kilometers from Paris, it was located quite close to Saint-Germain, one of the most favorite residences of Louis XIII. When the hunt dragged on until late and there was no way to return to Paris, the king rode to Saint-Germain or stopped at one of the inns of Versailles or in a dilapidated old castle belonging to the Gondi family, where he slept without undressing on an armful of straw. He often spent the night at the windmill.

The king soon became tired of this state of affairs, and he bought 40 hectares of land from 16 different owners in the winter of 1623-1624. Deciding that the time had come to build a small hunting lodge in Versailles. An unknown architect erected a U-shaped building on a hill, 24 meters long and 6 meters wide, made of pink brick, white stone and blue tiles. Louis XIII constantly came to Versailles to monitor the progress of work.

By summer the house became inhabitable, and the king lived there from June 28 to July 5. On August 2, he arrived at Versailles from Saint-Germain at 8:30 a.m. to supervise the delivery of furniture and kitchen utensils purchased especially for him by Monsieur de Blainville, the first nobleman of the house.

The king occupied 4 rooms in the house; Louis's apartment consisted of a bedroom, an office, a dressing room and a reception room. These rooms would later be occupied by Louis XIV, who wanted to live in his father's apartment.

The bedroom furnishings were rather modest. There was only the essentials: a bed, two chairs, six benches, a table. In the evening, candles were lit in silver and crystal candlesticks. Five tapestries decorated the walls; the bed curtains, carpet, curtains and upholstery were made of green damask fabric. In the study, eight tapestries reproduced the story of Mark Antony. A little later, the gallery leading to the king's bedroom will be decorated with a large painting depicting the capture of La Rochelle.

The king tried to come to Versailles as often as possible. The retinue accompanying him was always extremely small. Of the courtiers, Louis occasionally invited only Claude de Rouvroy, the future Duke de Saint-Simon, the Duke de Montbazon, M. de Souvres, the Comte de Berengen, Michel Luc, personal secretary, the Marquis d'Aumont, the Comte de Praslin, the Comte de Soissons and the Duke of Mortemart. The last two usually slept on the first floor, in the room of the captain of the guards.

It must be said that the courtiers considered it a great honor to be invited by the king to hunt at Versailles, but such trips were associated with great inconvenience for them. Louis XIII was a tireless and fearless hunter; he could gallop through fields and forests for seventeen hours in a row in any weather, which was extremely tiring for his companions. Moreover, it is often the difficulties caused by bad weather conditions, could force him to go hunting, and no amount of persuasion could force the king to change his decision. In addition, in the hunting lodge in Versailles, the amenities were minimal and could not satisfy the demanding nobles, faced with the need to share them with a king indifferent to comfort.

There were no rooms provided for either the Queen Mother or the Queen Reigning. However, several times they still came to Versailles for one day, without ever spending the night there.

A typical day for the king in Versailles is described by his physician Héroir: “On October 12, 1624, he woke up at 6 o’clock in the morning, had breakfast at 7 o’clock and went deer hunting. At 10 o'clock he returned, soaked through, changed his clothes and changed his shoes. At 11 o'clock I had lunch, mounted my horse and again chased the deer, reaching Porschefontaine. Returned to Versailles at 6 o'clock in the evening."

Versailles became for the king not only a place where he could find shelter after a hunt. The king hid in a hunting lodge when life in the Louvre became completely unbearable for him. Under the pretext of hunting, he tried to go there as often as possible in order to take a break from the court and hide his emotions from outside witnesses.

Meanwhile, in 1631, Louis XIII decided to expand his holdings at Versailles and enlarge his house. On April 8, 1632, he bought from Jean-François de Gondi for 70,000 livres the entire seigneury of Versailles, along with the ruins of the old castle of Gondi, which he wanted to completely demolish in order to expand the park.

On August 15, 1634, construction was completed. The main building, in which the king's apartments were located, had five windows on the first and second floors overlooking the courtyard; There were also five windows in two parallel wings that now border the Marble Courtyard. The four outer corners of the castle were decorated with four identical pavilions. On the courtyard side, a portico with seven arches covered with bars connected the two wings. The house was surrounded by a moat without water; the gardens were expanded by Jacques de Mener and included a vegetable garden and a ballroom. In 1639, the gardens were redesigned by Claude Mollet and Hilaire Masson.

Versailles was not only a hunting lodge for Louis XIII, but also a place where no one could come without his permission. In April 1637, the king was tormented by severe emotional distress. The tender and sincere love that connected him with Mademoiselle de Lafayette was doomed, and he understood this perfectly well, but, exhausted by constant persecution from the court and remorse, he decided to take an unexpected action. Madame de Motteville writes in her Memoirs: “This great king, so wise and so constant in his courage, nevertheless experienced moments of weakness, during which he hurried her<Луизу де Лафайет>so that she would agree to his proposal to take her to Versailles, where she would live under his protection. This proposal, so contrary to his usual feelings, forced her to leave the court.” Mademoiselle de Lafayette, deeply in love with the king, was afraid that she would not be able to resist her feelings and would destroy the soul of her lover by agreeing to his proposal to move to Versailles. Fearing that she would give in if the king continued to ask her to do so, nineteen-year-old Louise de Lafayette entered a convent. To hide his grief, Louis XIII went to Versailles, which never became a refuge of love. In 1643, sensing the approach of death, Louis XIII said: “If God restores me to health, immediately after my Dauphin can mount a horse and reaches the age of majority, he will take my place, and I will retire to Versailles and think only about the salvation of the soul."

After the death of the king, which occurred on May 14, 1643, Versailles would remain without an owner for eighteen years. Louis XIV will order to preserve his father's hunting lodge intact, making it the heart of the new ensemble.

Builders of a great masterpiece

Four people assisted the king in the construction of Versailles: Colbert, Levo, Le Nôtre and Lebrun. Without them, the grandiose project would never have been realized; however, despite the numerous and undoubted merits of all four, the main inspirer and driving force of the project was still Louis. He knew well what he wanted. Thanks to Mazarin, who surrounded him with beautiful things since childhood, the king developed good taste. Year by year he became more and more refined, and this left its mark on all his affairs.

After his death, Mazarin left the king all his property: paintings, books, houses, eighteen huge diamonds known as les Mazarins, and money (and also, he might add, his nieces). All this was nothing compared to another priceless treasure - Colbert. He was the most remarkable minister in the history of France. He was born in 1619 into the family of a wool merchant in Reims. His coat of arms was a modest grass snake, in contrast to Fouquet's squirrel, which strives to climb ever higher. Unlike Fouquet, a merry fellow and a rake, Colbert was restrained and strict. He frowned more often than he smiled, and never tried to please. But everyone always knew what to expect from him. When someone, in the hope of avoiding any taxation, went straight to the king, bypassing Colbert, then at the end of the courteous reception he could hear from Louis: “Monsieur, you need to pay!” Therefore, most petitioners preferred to communicate with the gloomy-looking Colbert. Still, being in quite at a young age, he realized that economics is a sure, albeit not very fast, path to power; and began his career by putting in order Mazarin’s personal affairs, which were terribly neglected; then, still in the service of the cardinal, he became involved in public finance. When the king was a child, Colbert taught him how to keep accounts; Louis became the first king of France who knew how to do this on his own. Colbert hated Versailles, but only he was able to obtain the amount necessary for its construction. The money immediately disappeared, like water into sand. Having learned that the king was going to settle in Versailles, the financier resigned himself to the inevitable and began to think about how to use this expensive structure wisely and for the benefit of the country.

Colbert was an amazing person; he was distinguished by his deep knowledge of literature, science and art, although he probably himself considered these areas of human knowledge not the most important in life, something like an application to trade. By promoting the development of science in France, the financier did this primarily with the aim of attracting world markets. The minister founded a French school of painting and sculpture in Rome at the Villa Medici, opened an observatory in Paris and invited the astronomer Cassini to work there; he also bought books to replenish the royal library and, finally, as superintendent of construction, supervised the reconstruction of Versailles.

Although Colbert was twenty years older than the king, he treated his monarch with reverent awe. Leaving So's country house, this influential and powerful man, who kept the whole of France in fear, took a piece of bread with him to the park and threw it across the canal. If the bread fell on the other side, it meant that Louis XIV would be in a good mood; if the bread fell on the other side, Colbert had no doubt that a thunderstorm could not be avoided.

Le Brun was born the same year as Colbert and worked with him most of his life: They were similar in that they did not disdain any work. Le Brun was found by Chancellor Séguier when he was ten years old, and he was drawing scenes from the Apocalypse on tracing paper. He received his first serious order in 1649; he was to decorate the Hôtel Lambert, the Parisian home of a wealthy government official. He then worked for Fouquet at Vaux-le-Vicomte; in 1662, the king made him the chief court artist and entrusted him with the decorative decoration of Versailles. In addition, Lebrun was the director of a large tapestry factory, which was engaged not only in the production of woven carpets, but also almost all the furniture for Versailles. Lebrun, although not one of the first-class painters, was an excellent designer. Almost all the furniture and decoration of the palace: chairs, tables, carpets, decoration, decorative panels for walls, silver, tapestries and even keyholes were made according to his original sketches; he painted the ceilings in the Gallery of Mirrors, as well as in the halls of War and Peace, the facade of the small royal house in Marly. Lebrun created nasal decorations for galleys and decorations for holidays. In addition, he managed to paint huge canvases on religious and mythological themes. He loved allegories and battle scenes, but was rather indifferent to nature.

Reconstruction of the castle from 1661 to 1668 was carried out by the architect Levo. Le Brun and Levo worked in complete harmony. Levo's most famous buildings are the Vaux-le-Vicomte, the Lambert Hotel and the Institut de France, designed by the architect after his death. Much of his work at Versailles was obscured in later times by the work of the architect Mansart. Levo left the eastern façade of brick and stone in its original form, but added two wings to it; on the approach to the building, he erected a number of pavilions intended for ministers.

Le Nôtre was born into a gardener's family and was destined to become a royal gardener himself. His grandfather looked after the parks of Marie de Medici; his father was the head gardener at the Tuileries; the husband of one of his sisters grew a young garden for Anne of Austria, and the husband of the second took care of her orange trees. Le Nôtre dreamed of becoming an artist and began life in Vouet's studio, but soon returned to gardening. He succeeded his father in the Tuileries and gave the parks there a new look. Fouquet noticed him and invited him to Vaud, where the result of his work did not leave the Sun King indifferent, who immediately appointed him chief manager of all his parks. We owe him not only the gardens of Versailles, but also the parks of Chantilly, Saint-Cloud, Marly, Sceaux; The creation of his hands is the famous terrace in Saint-Germain-aux-Layes, as well as numerous private parks and gardens, and the magnificent wide avenue Champs Elysees, which begins at the Louvre. The city of Versailles was also built according to his design.

Le Nôtre carried an interest in painting and art throughout his life. His home in the Tuileries was replete with beautiful things, including Chinese porcelain. When leaving home, he left the keys on a nail so that art connoisseurs who came in his absence would not be disappointed and could admire the magnificent collection.

Quentini played an equally significant role in the arrangement of Versailles. He planted a vegetable garden. He first worked as a lawyer in Poitiers, but his real passion was vegetables and fruits. His book on gardening and horticulture can be considered one of the best publications on this topic; it awakens in the reader a passion for gardening; his advice is detailed and simple enough that even a child can understand it.

The king adored Quentini. He elevated him to the nobility and gave him a house in the garden, where he often visited for a walk. Today, the garden and vegetable garden remain almost unchanged, including the gate marked “Public”, through which the residents of Versailles entered to take free vegetables.

Quentini pears existed in Versailles until 1963, when the last two trees had to be dug up. In the 19th century, many of them still bear fruit and survive the winters that killed other fruit trees.

So, after 1661, Louis XIV wanted his own palace, which in its splendor and luxury would surpass other castles in France and even Europe. The king chose Versailles, a small village with a population of five hundred people, where the small hunting castle of Louis XIII was located, as the construction site. The best architects, sculptors, and artists of the 17th century worked on the construction; huge sums of money were spent on the construction of the castle. But the Sun King spares nothing. What led to the construction of Versailles, as we see, was Louis’s desire to have his own, unique palace, which was supposed to be proof of the glory and power of the king.

Finances of France and the Palace of Versailles

When it comes to cash spent on Versailles construction projects, historians unanimously agree that the palace cost enormous sums. And if we take into account the cost interior decoration, then we get colossal numbers. Although the Comptroller General of Finance, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, tried to instill in the king a penchant for frugality, the desire for the king's glory came at a cost.

Before Colbert became superintendent of construction, from 1661 to 1663, Versailles had already cost one and a half million (in four years it absorbed what Fontainebleau had eaten in 17 years). Almost all of this amount was used, apparently without any measure, to create parks. The king bought, increased, expanded, rounded out his possessions. He comes up with swimming pools, new parterres, a greenhouse, bosquets. In 1664, Versailles cost the construction administration 781,000 livres; next year – 586,000.

Colbert was undoubtedly concerned about these numerous expenses. He was worried and even angry. The letter he wrote to the king (September 1665) sounds alarming. “If Your Majesty wishes to discover traces of glory at Versailles, where more than five hundred thousand crowns have been spent in two years, you will undoubtedly be disappointed if you do not find it.”

Colbert still believed in the future of the Louvre and the Tuileries. At this time, Lorenzo Bernini, sculptor, artist, architect, author of the colonnade at the Cathedral of St., had already arrived in Paris. Peter, monuments to Popes Urban VIII and Alexander VII. He had to make the Louvre the most beautiful palace in the world.

But every year everything is spent on Versailles more money. If in 1668 339,000 livres from the budget of the Ministry of Construction were spent on construction, in 1669 spending reached 676,000 livres, and in 1671 - up to 2,621,000 livres. Beginning in 1670, new furniture appeared in the palace, decorated with silver overlays, and His Majesty's bedroom was covered with gold brocade.

To get an idea of ​​what the livre was then (divided into 20 soles and 240 deniers) at the end of the 17th century, we will give several examples. In the cities, an unskilled worker could earn from 6 to 10 soles per day when there was work; qualified (cabinet maker, mechanic, stonecutter) – 20 soles. Day laborers in rural areas, when they found work (150 days a year), received 5-6 soles per day. A parish curate who lived without hassle could receive from 300 to 400 livres a year, that is, 20 soles for a full day's work. It can also be assumed that the modest family lived on 25 livres a month. Thus, calculating the average annual income of such a family, we get: per year on the construction of Versailles (data from 1664), not counting expenses on interior decoration, as much money was spent as would be enough for the comfortable living of 3,000 families.

Versailles can be called, in the full sense of the word, a peacetime construction site. After all, construction work began to pick up and the largest financial investments took place just at the time when peace was being concluded. Let's compare some numbers. During the War of Devolution, Versailles cost the state 536,000 francs over two years. As soon as peace came, expenses immediately increased. In 1671, Versailles cost 676,000 francs. Over the five war years, from 1673 to 1677 inclusive, the amount spent on Versailles construction projects amounted to 4,066,000 livres. As soon as the Nimwegen Peace was concluded, the monarch no longer saw any reason to save. In 1679, Versailles expenses rise to 4,886,000 francs, and in 1680 they reach 5,641,000 francs. With the beginning of the Ten Years' War, major construction projects stopped. In the documents of the Construction Ministry you can see a report on the amounts spent on Versailles (excluding water supply): in 1685 - 6,104,000, in 1686 - 2,520,000, in 1687 - 2,935,000. Preparation for war is full progress, and therefore costs drop sharply in 1688: 1976,000 livres. And then, for nine whole years, from 1689 to 1697 inclusive, Versailles cost France only 2,145,000 livres. Between 1661 and 1715, Versailles, including the castle and office premises, cost 68,000,000 francs.

We must not forget that Versailles is not the only palace built at this time. Numerous other construction projects were also taking place in Paris. Until 1670, contributions for the construction of Parisian palaces were twice as large as those provided to Versailles. Since 1670 the situation has changed.

And in 1684, the Ministry of Finance allocated 34,000 francs for just one housing for workers. The statistics are certainly impressive!

But if you think about it again, these expenses do not seem so astronomical in comparison with the costs of wars and with the degree of political and artistic flowering the court reached during the time of the great king and further, throughout the entire age of Enlightenment. One cannot say it better than Pierre Verlet: “Everyone will agree that Louis XIV, by giving us Versailles, enriched France... The expenses of the great king gave the world a castle that one cannot help but admire.”