The Château and the Park of Versailles form a unity: without the Château the park would lack a focal point and lose its function as an extension of the grand state apartments within the Château, while without the park the Château would seem pent up within itself, with no room to expand into a wider setting. This is borne out by the fact that the plans for the park were completed before the final plans for the Hall of Mirrors and the side wings of the Château had taken shape.
The Park of Versailles, covering an area of more than 800 hectares/2,000 acres, is the finest example of 17th century French landscape gardening. Its creator, André Le Nôtre (1613- 1700), son of a gardener at the Tuileries, had previously worked in the Tuileries Gardens and designed the park at Vaux-le-Vicomte, but Versailles was his masterpiece. The characteristic features of the French gardens of the 17th century, their symmetry and their taming of nature into geometric forms, were in tune with the ideals of the French classical period, which saw in such creations an expression of man's dominance over nature.
The relationship between the palace and the park, conceived as a wider area for the display of royal power, is seen here in its fundamental significance: the monumental Château symbolizes the monarch's absolute power over men, while the park reflects his image as the master of nature. This is at its most apparent in the Bassins and the Grand Canal, where artificial means are used to ensure that the water is always still.
In the 18th century, during the reign of Louis XVI, the gardens round the Petit Trianon were laid out in the English style. The contrast between the two styles is very marked: the English-style park was an artificial arrangement of "unspoiled" nature, offering the possibility of acting out "real" rural life in the setting of a miniature village.
The Grand and Petit Trianons, miniature palaces set in gardens, were the only places where the French kings could have any privacy. Elsewhere in the park and in the Château they were subject, like everyone else at court, to the rules of etiquette and ceremony.
The Allée Royale, also known as the Tapis Vert ("Green Carpet"), links the Bassin de Latone and the Bassin d'Apollon along the main longitudinal axis of the park at Versailles.
The Bassin de Neptune at Versailles is an artificial pool created by Le Nôtre in 1679-84, with sculptured figures (by Adam, Bouchardon and Lemoyne, 1740 onwards) of Neptune with his trident and his wife Amphitrite with a sceptre, flanked by Oceanus on a unicorn and Proteus with sea creatures and plants.
The romantic setting of the famous Apollo group was a later addition to Versailles. On the northwestern edge of this bosquet is the Ile des Enfants, with a group of children playing (1710) which dates from the time of the aging Louis XIV, who wanted to see "more youth" around him.
Of the handsome pavilions in the Bosquet des Dômes in Versailles there remain only foundations, statues and reliefs. In the center of the little wood is a group by Gaspard Marsy, "The Titans".
The Colonnade (1685) at Versailles is a circular arcade of marble Ionic columns designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart as an elegant setting for festivities.
In the time of Louis XIV gilded gondolas presented to the king by the Venetian Republic sailed on the waters of the Grand Canal at Versailles and the Petit Canal at right angles to it.
The Grand Trianon at Versailles was built between 1678 and 1688 for Louis XIV by Jules Hardouin-Mansart and Robert de Cotte. Here the king had a private space, free from court etiquette. The little palace has two wings, one for Louis and the other for his favorite Madame de Maintenon. The Grand Trianon, which had fallen into disrepair, was restored by Napoleon. The interior is partly Baroque and partly Empire (furniture).
Faced in pink marble, this garden lies immediately west of the Trianon château on raised terraces.
Hours:
May 1 to September 30: 11am-6:30pm; Closed: Mon
October 1 to April 30: 10am-12:30pm, 2pm-5:30pm; Closed: Mon, Mon
Tips: Last admission half hour before closing.
Disability Access: Full facilities for persons with disabilities.
An English-style garden was laid out for Marie- Antoinette on the site of Louis XV's botanical garden at Versailles, and in it was built a miniature hamlet, with a farm, a dairy, a mill and a dovecot. In this area too are the Temple de l'Amour (Temple of Love, 1778), the Belvédère (an octagonal pavilion of 1777), the Théâtre de la Reine (1780) and the Pavillon Français (by Jacques-Ange Gabriel, 1750).
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.
The Petit Trianon at Versailles was built by Jacques-Ange Gabriel in 1763-67 for Louis XV's favorites. Louis XVI later presented it to Marie-Antoinette.
A landscaped garden of romantic nature with wandering paths, bubbling streams and rustic bridges.
Address: Petit Trianon, F-78000 Versailles, France
Hours:
May 1 to September 30: 11am-6:30pm; Closed: Mon
October 1 to April 30: 10am-12:30pm, 2pm-5:30pm; Closed: Mon, Mon
English garden: this was laid out on the site of Louis XV's botanical gardens for Marie-Antoinette and contains a little hamlet with a farm, dairy, mill and dove-cot. Also worth seeing: Temple d'Amour (temple of love, 1778), Belvedere (octagonal pavilion, 1777), the Queen's Theater (1780), French Pavilion (Gabriel, 1750).
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Versailles formal gardens.
Garden at Versailles on the outskirts of Paris.
Horse and carriage in Versailles Park.
Formal gardens at Versailles.
The Fountain of Latona at Versailles.
