Facts on the palace of Versailles

In 1624, Louis XIII, the king of France, gave orders to build a hunting lodge in the small village of Versailles near Paris. His son, Louis XIV, had the gardens embellished from 1661 onwards.

Between 1668 and 1690, architect Louis Le Vau and his successor Jules Hardouin-Mansard considerably enlarged and embellished the palace of Versailles.

At the same time, the gardener Le Notre laid out the Versailles park. Le Brun took care of paintings and sculptures.

The palace of Versailles in winter

The Apollo basin in Versailles

In 1685, 36 000 people and 6 000 horses were working on the construction of the 500 meters long palace, which took altogether 50 years.

The palace of Versailles, including the famous Hall of Mirrors, has been imitated many times thoughout Europe during the 18th century.

A good way to discover the palace of Versailles is on a bus tour from Paris.

The palace is open everyday except Mondays from 9am to 5.30pm (6.30pm from April 1st to September 30th).The Versailles park is open daily from 8am to at least 6pm. Its access is free. Web site.

From Paris, take the train at Gare Saint-Lazare station to Versailles Rive Droite station or at Montparnasse station to Versailles Chantier station (Count half an hour from Paris).