Versailles, photos of which can be seen in all travel guides to France, is today associated by most travelers with luxury and beauty. It was once the beautiful heart of France, due to its brilliance became the prototype of Peterhof. And today... Today it is one of the most famous landmarks in France.
Versailles is located 24 kilometers from Paris. How to get to Versailles, you can find out on the portal «Lotsman Puteshestviy» or on the official museum portal, if, of course, you are familiar with French or at least English.
Seeing it now, you will once again be convinced of the refined taste of the French, and yet once upon a time on the site of the palace there stood only a small village, lost somewhere among the forests.
«Discovered» this place King Henry IV – he loved to hunt here. It also appealed to his son, Louis XIII, – in 1623, by his order, on these lands bought from the then owner Jean de Soisy, a hunting castle was even built – quite modest, with only five rooms. Around it a small garden was laid out, a terrace and a pool were arranged.
As if by inheritance, love for this place passed to the next king – Louis XIV (history remembers him as the «Sun King» and Louis the Great). It is thanks to him that a simple hunting lodge turned into a castle gleaming with luxury. Of course, the political situation also played a role – after the anti-government unrest, the so-called Fronde uprising, Louis decided that living in the Louvre was clearly unsafe, and decided to move outside the city. It was decided to make Versailles the center of power and the main royal residence.
In 1661, the royal architect Louis Le Vau, landscape architect and court gardener André Le Nôtre began work, a little later they were joined by the painter Charles Le Brun – it was he who painted the Halls of War and Peace. The new castle amazed with its beauty and grandeur – a huge building with lavish decoration, gardens and parks impressive in their uniqueness (lawns with flower beds, shrub borders, ponds and fountains, sculptures and artificial groves).
The construction was incredibly large-scale (only on the parks about 36 thousand people worked), and in time it took many decades – the palace changed somewhat under Louis XV (of course, not on such a scale).
Today Versailles is called the embodiment of classical French art and a symbol of royal absolutism. For almost forty years it has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In its time, the Palace of Versailles became the beloved brainchild of the Sun King, today everyone has the opportunity to enjoy the splendor of the façade, enter the stunningly luxurious Hall of Mirrors, take a boat ride on the Grand Canal, admiring the opening perspectives, or wander among the amazing flower parterres.
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