Chateau de Versailles
.The Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal chateau in Versailles, the Ile-de-France region of France. In French, it is known as the Château de Versailles. Twenty kilometres southwest of Paris, the royal town of Versailles is renowned for the Château de Versailles, the enormous palace built for Louis XIV which is today one of the most visited monuments in France. It was inspired by the young Louis XIV's envy of his finance minister's Château at Vaux-le-Vicomte, a construction which he was determined to outdo.
He recruited the design team of Vaux-le-Vicomte – architect Le Vau, painter Le Brun and gardener Le Nôtre – and ordered something a hundred times the size. Versailles is the apotheosis of French regal indulgence, and even if the extravagant, self-aggrandizing decor of the "Sun King" is not to your liking, the palace's historical significance and anecdotes will enthral, and its park is a delight.
One of the most baffling aspects to the study of Versailles is the cost – how much Louis XIV and his successors spent on Versailles. Owing to the nature of the construction of Versailles and the evolution of the role of the palace, construction costs were essentially a private matter. Initially, Versailles was planned to be an occasional residence for Louis XIV and was referred to as the "king's house" (La Varende, 1959). Accordingly, much of the early funding for construction came from the king's own purse, funded by revenues received from his appanage as well as revenues from the province of New France (Canada), which, while part of France, was a private possession of the king and therefore exempt from the control of the Parliaments.
He recruited the design team of Vaux-le-Vicomte – architect Le Vau, painter Le Brun and gardener Le Nôtre – and ordered something a hundred times the size. Versailles is the apotheosis of French regal indulgence, and even if the extravagant, self-aggrandizing decor of the "Sun King" is not to your liking, the palace's historical significance and anecdotes will enthral, and its park is a delight.
One of the most baffling aspects to the study of Versailles is the cost – how much Louis XIV and his successors spent on Versailles. Owing to the nature of the construction of Versailles and the evolution of the role of the palace, construction costs were essentially a private matter. Initially, Versailles was planned to be an occasional residence for Louis XIV and was referred to as the "king's house" (La Varende, 1959). Accordingly, much of the early funding for construction came from the king's own purse, funded by revenues received from his appanage as well as revenues from the province of New France (Canada), which, while part of France, was a private possession of the king and therefore exempt from the control of the Parliaments.
