Page 61 - DK Eyewitness Travel Guides - The World's Must-See Places
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~ Marble Courtyard
Paved in black and white marble,
~ South wing this inner courtyard is surrounded
by Louis Xlll's old chateau, the
fao;ades of which were enhanced
by Le Vau and Hardouin-Mansart.
The three arched windows of
the king's first-floor bedroom
are fronted by a gilded balcony.
Oeil-de-Boeuf
L'Opera A
The palace's main opera house and
~ Clock theatre was completed in 1770, in
time for the marriage of the future
Hall of Mirrors
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. It
was intended for I avi sh specta des.
/ Salon d'Apollon
Royal Courtyard
___ )~~~~~~~!1----:-:------ Separated from the Ministers'
~ Courtyard by elaborate grille
work during Louis XIV's reign,
this narrow space was accessible
only to the royal family.
~ North Wing
The chapel, opera and
picture galleries occupy
this wing, which originally
Salon
d'Hercule housed royal apartments.
Masses, concerts and
operas are sti II held in
this extravagant setting.
On 6 October 1789, a Parisian mob invaded
• t Versailles seeking the despised Marie-Antoinette,
~ Chapelle Royale whose frivolous behaviour had earned her fierce
Mansart's last great work, public criticism. The queen fled through the
this two-storey Baroque anteroom known as the Oei/-de-Boeuf to the
Ministers' chapel was Louis XIV's final
Courtyard addition to Versailles. king's rooms. She and the king, Louis XVI, were
later removed to Paris by the cheering and
triumphant mob.
Main Gate>
Ma nsa rt' s original
gateway grille,
surmounted by the KEY DATES
royal arms, is the 1668 1671 1833 1919
en tr a nee to the
Ministers' Courtyard. Le Vau starts the Decorator Charles Le Louis-Ph ilippe turns The Treaty of \krsailles
construction of B run begins work on the chateau into the is signed in the Hall of
the chateau. the chateau's interiors. Museum of the Mirrors, ending World
History of France. War I.
