Your Visit to Versailles [antikvár]

VERSAILLES, SEAT OF THE ANCIENT MONARCHY Although Louis XIII had a hunting-lodge and garden built there in the 1630s, Louis XIV was mainly responsible for the creation of Versailles. Not too close to Paris, where insurgency was a constant threat, but not too far away, the site had great potential for building. It thus fulfilled the King's desire to have his court permanently around him, which no otlicr royal residence in the surrounding areas permitted. He turned Versailles into a sumptuous estate and ensured its destiny. From 1682 to 1789, Versailles was the seat and later the symbol of absolute monarchy, since the estate, modelled according to the Sun King's wislies, reflected his perception of power. the seat of power In an absolute monarchy, all power comes from the King. At Versailles, Lotiis XIV was both the host and ruler of the liingdom which he governed through various intermediaries who were completely indebted to him. Distracted from their business, those in liigh places no longer exercised real power, but nevertheless felt the need to appear at court. It was there that the liing would dispense favours: offices, land, titles, and pensions etc. This society based on prestige and representation demanded constant rivalry, compulsory luxury and extravagant living. 7'his was how Louis XIV "Ivept" his cotirtiers. He himself had to hold sway in everything. In his eyes, the exercise and manifestation of power were one and the same. His dwelling had to be the largest and the most magnificent, its décor filled with symbols pertaining to his glory. The staff of servants, in the noblest sense, in the King's household had to be the largest and his court much frequented: on different days, there would be 3000 to 10,000 persons at court. 'Fhis sizeable crowd called for strict regulations. Etiquette and its irksome aspects - who has access to the king, who has the right to sit in his presence, who ranks above who, etc. - may appear trivial today. However, this system was essential since it asserted the different ranks, tlie primacy of the King, in a word: the hierarchy within the court. It applied to the sovereign's most intimate moments - rising, retiring, meals and walks - which were perceived as state activities seemed to revolve around tiie Kmg's personal existence. Anotlier distinctive characteristic of Versailles, which quite rightly surprised otusiders, was the fact that the gardens and the château interiors were largely open to the public. Without necessarily being part of the court, anyone was able to see the King as lie passed through his State Apartment on his way to the chapel; anyone had access right up to his bedchamber, but only in his absence. All the ftmctions relating to representation, government, living, and service account for the layout of the different areas. Flowever, all this was not created in a day. Fifty years of building work When, at the start of his personal reign in 1661, Louis XIV went to his father's château to amuse himself and order the first alterations, he did not imagine that this small edifice, which consisted of the buildings surrounding the Marble Courtyard, would become the heart of sucli an immense estate. During tliis period of youth, the gardens, immediately entrusted to Le Nôtre, were the setting for extraordinary festivities which brought Versailles renown throughout E luope. It was the day after the Grtuiti Divernsseinfnt in 1668 that the King first decided to extend the château. Le Vau and d'Orbay, architects to the King, sur-roiuided the original château with three main buildings overlooking tire park. The new constructions, made of stone and in the style of Roman baroque villas popular at tlie time, contrasted so greatly with the brick, stone and slate architecture dating from Louis XIII that they could almost be two different cliâ-teaux built into each other. Le Brun, chief painter to the King, provided the designs for the entire inter-