Versailles - Parterres

The Parterres (open terraces) at Versailles extend in front of the stone terrace a few steps higher, on which are four bronze statues of Bacchus, Apollo, Mercury and Silenus and two handsome marble vases with reliefs by Antoine Coysevox depicting the war with Turkey and the peace treaties of Aix- la-Chapelle and Nijmegen.

On the Parterre du Nord are 24 statues, in groups of four, representing cosmic forces - the seasons of the year, the times of day, the elements, the continents, the humors, the genres of literature. On the middle parterre, the Parterre d'Eau, are two pools with 24 bronze figures personifying the rivers of France. The southern part of the Parterre du Midi has sumptuous displays of flowers. Below the Parterres is the Orangery (1684-86), the central gallery of which is 155m/170yds long. Beyond it is the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses, a lake constructed by the royal Swiss Guard. On the Parterre de Latone is a pool with a sculpture group depicting Latona or Leto, Zeus's wife, and her children Diana and Apollo fleeing from the wicked Lycian peasants, whom Zeus punishes by turning them into frogs.