What to Know About the World’s Most Opulent Palace

The Palace of Versailles is a truly unique historical treasure. There will never be a single residence (even a palace) that will exceed the exorbitant expense the Sun King spent. If you want to know how much it is estimated to have cost in today’s US dollars, keep reading! It’s easy to understand why so many millions of visitors line up to tour the palace and its gardens. Over 15 million people visit the Palace of Versailles each year! In 1979, the Estate of Versailles was one of the first sites to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was recognized “for its influence on the development of architecture and landscape design, its unique historical testimony and the fact it is a masterpiece of human creative genius and representative of a specific period of history and art history.” We loved our tour of Versailles and learned so many things about this special estate. We hope you’ll enjoy the list we’ve compiled for you.

Interesting Facts About Versailles

1. The Hall of Mirrors is famous for its stunning design - The room was originally lit with over 20,000 candles. It must have been quite a sight to see that light reflecting off of a total of 357 Venetian mirrors. It is also the room in which the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919, bringing an end to the first World War.

2.  Venetian mirror makers were employed, despite threats - During the 17th century, when Versailles was built, Venice had a monopoly on mirror making.  Louis XIV’s finance minister convinced a few of these mirror makers to come and work on the Hall of Mirrors. Due to the threat of death by their own government, the artisans had to be smuggled out of Italy. Legend tells that an assassin was sent to execute the men but a few survived and shared their knowledge with France.

1. King Louis XIV loved attention and started some interesting customs - King Louis XIV was anything but shy. He demanded attention and made the most ordinary daily tasks in his life into ceremonies, which were attended by fellow nobles. These ceremonies even included him going to sleep and putting on his hunting boots. His presence can be felt throughout the entire palace where various statues, reliefs, and paintings of the Sun King, as he called himself, are on display.

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1. The palace is so huge that Louis XIV often ate his food cold – The distance from the kitchen to the dining areas was so far that keeping a meal hot was virtually impossible. Despite hundreds of servants, the king was not typically able to receive a hot meal.

1. Marie Antoinette had her own private village within the grounds – The queen took the mini palace named the Petit Trianon as her own and created a little French town around it, which included servants’ quarters, a farm, and more. She also created a Temple of Love which features a statue of Cupid.

1. Napoleon Bonaparte made his mark on Versailles – Shortly after declaring himself Emperor of the French, under the title Napoleon I in 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte made it his mission to restore Versailles back to the symbol of power it had previously been. He commanded his architects to upgrade the Palace, the Grand Trianon, and the Petit Trianon, where his mother and sister would live. The interior decor from Napoleon’s time is what you’ll find when you tour the Grand Trianon.

1. The Palace has an odiferous history – In the 17th Century, the smell of the flowers in the garden was so overpowering, it made guests feel ill. Speaking of odors, the palace has an interesting bathroom history. While members of the royal family were lucky enough to have a cupboard in their rooms that housed a sort of toilet chair, not all rooms had private facilities. In keeping with the over-the-top theme, chamber pots were cast in silver and placed in the corners of the rooms throughout the palace. Guests would often do their business behind a curtain and leave it until the staff found and removed it. Despite the fancy silver touch, the lack of proper facilities left an air of disgusting aroma that lasted for many years.

2. The Queen’s Marble Staircase was the scene of a revolt –  The Queen’s Staircase is also known as the Marble Staircase. At the top, you will enter the Queen’s Guards’ Room and then the private apartments of the queen. Constructed with tremendous amounts of marble, gilded in bronze, and adorned with golden engravings, the staircase is certainly an example of the abundance flaunted by the monarchy. During the reign of King Louis XVI, the peasants became overwhelmed with anger at their king and queen living opulent lives while citizens starved in the streets. In 1789, they stormed the Palace of Versailles with their sights set on the queen, Marie Antoinette. They traveled up the Queen’s Marble Staircase and gained access to the Queen’s Guards’ Room. Marie Antionette escaped through a hidden doorway from her room to the king’s apartments. Besides the Queen’s Staircase, there are several other notable staircases in the Palace, including the Staircase of the King and the Louis-Philippe Staircase.

1. During the French Revolution, many art pieces were moved – As the French public became more and more frustrated with their king, Versailles became a symbol of the monarchy’s wealth, power, and corruption. The palace became a site of protest for the French public. To protect the most priceless pieces of art, they were moved to the Louvre instead.

1. The iconic royal gate you see today is a reconstruction – During the French Revolution, the revolutionary government ordered the front gate, which was completely covered in gold, to be dismantled. In 2008, the gate was recreated and decorated with 100,000 gold leaves.

1. The palace’s menageries became the model for Europe’s zoos – The palace menageries, designed by architect Louis le Vau, was the first place where animals were divided by species into separate, specially designed enclosures. From the balcony of the central pavilion of La Ménagerie, royal residents and their guests could view all kinds of birds and wildlife from around the world. The model was adopted throughout Europe and they were eventually called zoos.

2. The fountains required new technologies to be invented – Louis XIV wanted hundreds of fountains in his gardens. Unfortunately, Versailles is one of few palaces that had no water source nearby. As a result, artificial ponds had to be created in order to have enough water.  New hydraulic techniques and methods were invented to get the fountains to work. With so much water pumping through the fountains, conservation was a problem that had to be addressed, even though the king wanted the very best. Engineers created a way for the fountains to be activated when the king took his walks in the garden and deactivated as he left each area. A lot of these fountains still use the same hydraulics network today.

1. Versailles played a significant role in the scientific revolution – In the late 1600s through the 1700s, the estate of Versailles became a testing ground for scientists. The enormous size of the park and gardens offered a place for scientists to explore, test, and share their discoveries. King Louis XV was passionate about astronomy and medicine. The gardens also gave him a way to explore botany as a way to contribute to medical science. His son, Louis XVI added his love for geography and naval exploration and spent a great deal of time exploring and collaborating in the areas of physics, chemistry, and mechanics. These passions led to a growing personal library and even the addition of laboratories in the Kings’ Private Apartments.

   Studies undertaken here had a lasting impact on Versailles and the world. Many of the decorative ceilings were inspired by watching and studying the stars and solar system. On May 22, 1724, King Louis XV along with his court gathered in the Trianon gardens to watch the total eclipse of the sun through a telescope. The observations made during his rule helped to settle the debate over the lines of longitude and allowed a much higher degree of precision when creating the maps used by navigators and explorers. This also improved France’s political and military standing in the world. In addition, advances were made in botany leading to new techniques for year round food provision and the inclusion of plant resources for the treatment of medical conditions. Water engineering advances were a necessary byproduct to meet the king’s demands for the fountains and water features throughout the gardens. During Louis XV’s reign, the Royal Academy of Surgeons was established and his own death was the catalyst for the royal princes to become some of the first to be inoculated against smallpox.

2. It would cost between $2-300 billion to build Versailles today – No one really knows the actual cost when the Palace of Versailles was built. It was done in phases across several generations and data is not available. However, many have estimated that it would cost at least $2 billion and perhaps as much as $300 billion to build it today. The palace boasts over 700 rooms, 2,000 windows, 67 staircases, and 1,250 chimneys. There are over 5,000 pieces of furniture found throughout the palace. The running water of a single garden fountain was a luxury enjoyed only by royals and wealthy elites in the days when Versailles was in her full glory. The palace gardens feature 1,400 fountains and over 400 sculptures! In 2003, the “Grand Versailles” plan was implemented. The project, spread over 17 years and costing €500 million, is the biggest restoration of the estate since the reign of King Louis-Philippe. You can read the details about this project here.

We very much enjoyed our visit to the Palace of Versailles. I wish we would have known all of these interesting facts before we arrived. It might have changed the way we looked at things and the areas we prioritized as we toured. We hope these little tidbits of knowledge will enhance your experience when you visit the iconic palace with your family. Do you know any interesting facts about Versailles that we didn’t include in this post? If so, we’d love to hear them!