Surprisingly, several centuries ago, the stunning royal palace, the grandeur of which are composed of real legends, was just a small village near Paris. The sprawled estate, stretching over eight thousand hectares, became the home for the rulers of France and a place where political intrigues were woven. Now not a single tourist who wants to get to know Paris better will not ignore one of the most popular tourist attractions.
Construction history
They say that the history of the construction of the palace, in which everything breathed luxury, began after the fame of the large-scale and magnificent castle of the country's finance minister reached Louis XIV. When the "sun king" saw with his own eyes the splendor of decoration, he realized that the residence of his subject is much more beautiful than his own. Of course, the ruler of France could not tolerate this and thought about a palace that would overshadow all the others with its wealth.
After the recent uprising, living in the Louvre was unsafe, so the king chose Versailles located outside the city for construction. The palace and park, which became the national property of the French, did not appear immediately.
Large-scale work and huge costs
To begin with, the entire territory occupied by the swamps was drained, then it was covered with earth and stones. After carefully leveling the soils, forests were brought to a small hunting lodge for the future construction of the royal residence.
1661 marked the beginning of construction. It is known about thirty thousand performers engaged in work, to which sailors and soldiers joined on the orders of Louis XIV. During the construction of the palace, there was a very severe saving on materials sold to the workers of the ruler of France at the lowest prices, but the total result of the funds spent exceeded 25 million lire, which by modern standards amounts to more than 250 billion euros.
Palace City
The official opening of the Palace of Versailles took place 21 years later, but the construction did not stop at the same time. The architectural masterpiece was constantly growing with new buildings until the French Revolution began in 1789. The small village turned into a real city, in which lived not only the royal family with the courtiers, but also all the servants and guards.
Gardens in Versailles
The residence included a huge garden and park ensemble, the bookmark of which was verified with mathematical precision and obeyed by symmetry, so all landscape elements have strict geometric shapes. Perfectly round fountain complexes, colorful flower beds made in the form of patterns and absolutely even alleys followed the idea of a clear layout.
The huge parks of Versailles were designed by the well-known landscape architect Lenotre, who adhered to the classical style. No wonder they were considered the most perfect creation of that era. A lush green hedge created real labyrinths and corridors in which marble sculptures of ancient gods were hidden. Such a harmonious combination of architecture and vegetation evoked a sense of admiration. It is believed that thereby laid the fashion for perfectly flat parks of Versailles in the classic French style, as if drawn strictly according to the ruler with an emphasized split into mirror symmetry.
Unified Palace and Park Ensemble
A special atmosphere of solemnity is given by small architectural elements located in the park - bridges, ramps and stairs. And lush vegetation looks unusual through the transparent jets of working fountains. Artificially created kilometer canals flowed throughout the pompous park. Colorful lawns were decorated with geometric patterns laid out of flowers.
Lenotre combined the palace and the garden and park complex into a single ensemble, which became an important feature of Versailles. The architect took into account the peculiarities of the baroque gardens of Holland and used a three-beam composition, consisting of direct avenues, diverging in different directions. At their intersection were picturesque landscapes, and it seemed as if they stretched for several kilometers. It is this architectural decision that Versailles Park is famous for.
Versailles, which became a real monument of the era of the “king-sun”, was a grand ensemble, where nature obeyed the architectural lines of the palace - the dominant of the park complex. And the whole composition of the royal residence obeyed the one and only idea of praising the most powerful of all the kings of the state.
Open plan
Excellently viewed from all sides, the Versailles park in France with an open plan reflected the idea of Lenotre, who dreamed of showing the absence of an enclosed space. He used the reverse perspective effect, which allows one to see the growth of some elements with an enlargement of their pattern when moving away from the heart of the park. The talented Frenchman subtly thought out the sequence of visual perception of the overall composition of the ensemble.
The beautiful park of Versailles (France), whose condition was monitored by about a thousand workers, was perfectly visible from any window of the royal residence. In the view of the landscape architect, the green zone was supposed to look like a real city with paved streets, triumphal arches, columns and galleries.
Own flotilla
One cannot help but admire the view overlooking the Grand Canal, whose area exceeds 20 hectares. Designed by Lenotra, it symbolizes the naval superiority of the French flotilla. During the colorful festivals so beloved by Louis, the colorful lights of fireworks illuminated the dark canal.
During the reign of the “Sun King”, a special flotilla was created, consisting of copies of warships, yachts and longboats, which invariably delighted contemporaries. Knowing the special love of Louis, the Venetian Doges gave him a gondola, which became a real decoration of the collection. The diplomats who arrived for negotiations from afar saw the masts on ships plying the water surface of the canal, which froze in winter, turning into a skating rink.
The view from the open terraces of Versailles surprised everyone with the special visual effect that Lenotre loved to use: it created a deceptive impression that the canal was very close to those who stood, although this was not so.
Park fountains
The Royal Park at Versailles is proud of the magnificent fountains that still exist today, and their constant work was considered a real technical breakthrough of that era. They were combined into a single hydraulic system, which, with the development of progress, improved and made it possible to pump water from the farthest sources of the country.
The fountains were entire sculptural complexes consisting of several platforms. And the cast figure of Apollo, arising from the water and facing the Versailles, was considered a central image. The juxtaposition of the radiant god personifying the Sun with the powerful monarch emphasized the splendor of the royal palace. In addition, Louis patronized art in the same way that Apollo patronized muses.
The superiority of the palace over the park
But Lenotre did not forget that the Palace of Versailles should dominate, showing its clear superiority over the park complex, which the French consider the most charming in the whole globe.
The unique park of Versailles is ideally inscribed in the architecture of the residence of the king. Versailles with strict proportions and lines does not seem monotonous, but rather makes an incredible impression with a riot of colors and special splendor. From certain points, guests of the complex observe a linear perspective of the space organized with mathematical precision.
UNESCO Heritage
Since 1979, UNESCO World Heritage has taken all visitors to the era of the conceited king, like a time machine. The magnificent gardens and parks of Versailles served as a huge theater stage for the inhabitants of the palace. Grand holidays, mass celebrations, mysterious masquerades were held here, which is not surprising, because Louis adored the theater and patronized him.
Troupe came here, staging the plays of Moliere and Racine in the walls of the palace, and the king’s heirs gathered actors for their own theater, in which noble persons participated.
Changes in the look of the park
After Louis XVI came to power , much has changed in the appearance of the green park. Shrubs and trees ruthlessly uprooted to turn the French park into a kind of English under the influence of new trends in politics. However, soon a new aesthetic that did not take root was abandoned, and the gardens in the classical style were again planted.
Five significant transplants of garden plants are known. After the devastating hurricanes, thousands of trees were damaged, and this was a very tangible damage that the parks of Versailles suffered.
Failed recovery
Since 1837, the museum of French history is the former residence of the kings of Versailles. The park, a photo of which is conveyed by fantastic beauty, a green riot and clear lines, was to be restored according to the project of a large-scale restoration of the country's government.
However, modern realities have made significant adjustments to this plan, and so far all work has been postponed. Contemporaries limited themselves only to supporting the life of Versailles.