The Palace of Versailles or Château de Versailles is one of the most beautiful achievements of 18th-century French art. It has come to represent the tumultuous nature of modern French history as much as it has the incredible design and architecture that makes it one of the most stunning buildings in the world.
Versailles is not just a palace, but a whole town built specifically to meet the needs of the royal palace. Louis XIV wanted to have something so luxurious that no one could match him in wealth and beauty.
Today, the Versailles Museum is known throughout the world thanks to Louis XIII of Bourbon dynasty, who wished to have his own secluded nest. The site began as hunting lodge before his son Louis XIV transformed and expanded it. Then it was difficult to predict that one day it will grow and become known as the Palace of Versailles. He turned out to be more ambitious, and so in 1662 he began the reconstruction of his heritage, and then finally moved into it moving the court and government of France to Versailles.
Versailles is not just a palace, but a whole town built specifically to meet the needs of the royal palace. Louis XIV wanted to have something so luxurious that no one could match him in wealth and beauty.
Each of the three French kings, who lived there until the French Revolution, added improvements to make it more beautiful.
For hundreds of years it was used as a political plaything by the rulers and would-be rulers of the country, arguing over the cost, the ownership of its artworks, its role in the public sphere and the funding of restoration.
The Palace of Versailles is still very much a French affair and a bricks and mortar symbol of a great country that’s influence once stretched across the globe. It is one of the best known tourist attractions in France with the Hall of Mirrors, the King’s Grand Apartments, the Museum of the History of France and famous gardens, few places better showcase the opulence and grandeur of the French monarchy better than the Palace of Versailles.
