Palace of Versailles, Paris, France

Europe / France / Western Europe
5 Jun, 2016
0

Palace of Versailles Courtyard. Image Via: livescience.com

Palace of Versailles (in French: Le Chateau de Versailles), is a family residence palace of the French kings. Established over an area of 67,000 m2, the palace is famous for its grandeur and beauty, as well as its important role in French history even World War. Louis XIII, King of France in the 17th century ordered the construction of hunting animals in a village called Versailles.

The village is located about 17 km southwest of the city of Paris. Shortly thereafter, his son, Louis XIV developed the place with the plan of the garden at Versailles. These renovations continued on a large scale with the construction of the Palace of Versailles under the leadership of renowned French architect, Jules Hardouin-Mansart.

Construction of the palace took nearly half a century, from 1661 to 1710 (from the reign of King Louis XIV to Louis XVI before he and his wife, Marie Antoinette, was beheaded in the Place de la Concorde when the French Revolution occurred). Entering the palace area, we will be amazed since the palace gates with a magnificent white palace silhouette golden.

Palace of Versailles Hall of Mirrors

The Palace of Versailles is divided into several main sections such as the private rooms of the King and Queen of France, the main gallery named Hall of Mirrors which contains decorative lights containing 1000 pieces of wax, the Chapel of Versailles with French Baroque style, Opera space, and the Museum of French History.

Some rooms in this palace keeps a story that is quite important in the history. Trivia: Chapel of the palace is the room which construction takes the longest (28 years) because King Louis XIV found this place is a form of devotion to God also statement of supremacy church in France, so it must be done carefully and perfectly.

Palace of Versailles Garden

Hall of Mirrors, the gallery which until now recognized the most magnificent in the world, is where the signing of the Treaty of Versailles that marked the end of World War I on June 28, 1919. The Queen bed room was the biggest, even bigger than the private rooms of the King. Because every time the queen gave birth, the room was opened to the public in order to see first hand the birth of sons and daughters of the royal family.

Overall, the Palace of Versailles has more than 700 rooms; 2,153 windows; 1,250 fireplaces; 67 stairs; 6,123 paintings; 15,034 carvings; and more than 5,000 pieces of classical furniture and other artwork.

Although most of the year opened, the queue is always long especially in the holidays. For easy access, you are advised to buy tickets online directly from the website Chateau de Versailles. The price is slightly more expensive than if we bought it from the booth entrance of the palace, but the ticket price include train and metro commute, entry to all areas of the palace, and the audio guide facility.

You can also buy tickets directly at the site, especially if you just want to visit certain areas in the palace. The entry ticket price of about 20-25 euros for access to all areas of the palace, and 5-9 euros for entry to certain areas only. You can also use the Paris Museum Pass which already includes access to all areas of the palace, complete with audio guide tour.

From Paris, you can use the RER train line C5 and get off at the station nearest the castle, the Versailles Rive Gauche station. The station is just a 5-minute walk away from the entrance to the palace. Take a good look at the place you stop because there are three train stations Versailles: Versailles Rive Gauche, Versailles Rive Droite and Versailles Chantiers.