The Castle (Le Château)

THE PALACE OF VERSAILLES ☀️

The palace of the Sun King

Gilded decorations, endless gardens and the Hall of Mirrors: it’s hard to imagine a more spectacular setting than Versailles. Yet before becoming one of the most famous palaces in the world, the estate was simply a modest hunting lodge.

It was Louis XIV, the famous Sun King, who truly transformed Versailles. From 1661 onwards, he undertook an immense building project to expand the château of his father, Louis XIII, and turn it into a showcase of the power and grandeur of the French monarchy.

In 1682, Louis XIV officially moved the royal court and government to Versailles. The palace then became the heart of royal power in France. Thousands of courtiers, servants, officers and members of the royal family lived and worked around the sovereign, their daily lives governed by an extremely elaborate system of court etiquette.

The nickname “Sun King” reflects the image Louis XIV carefully created around his reign: like the sun around which everything revolves, the king placed himself at the centre of the court and the kingdom. The sun symbol can be found throughout Versailles, from its gilded gates to the decorations inside the palace.

Today, the palace, its gardens and its vast estate still bear witness to this extraordinary grandeur and are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.