The Palace of Versailles has been home to many Kings and Queens back in the day, today I am only going to focus on the most significant residents of the Palace. To start off, we are going to focus on the original builder of the house: Louis XIII.
The Palace of Versailles first started as a small hunting lodge for Louis XIII who came to Versailles in 1607 to hunt. He loved the location so much that when he was crowned, he built a small lodge so he could stay overnight at the location, which was only built in 1623. He then decided to rebuild it into the basis of the palace we know today. He lived there till 1638. The next King we are going to focus on is Louis XIV, who lived in Palace of Versailles from 1638-1715. Louis XIV was first sent there when his father, Louis XIII, sent him and his brother to escape smallpox that had reached the Palace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1641. He was three years old at that time and ended up going back only 10 years later. After his second visit, he often found his way back to the Palace, along side his brother. Furthermore, after his First Minister died, he built many projects around the area until 1715 when he passed away. Some of his most notable projects included: forecourt in 1662, the "Le Vau Envelope" in 1668-1670, the South Wing in 1679-1681, and the Royal Chapel in 1699-1710. The Palace became the official main residence of the French Court in 1672 and went on to house many more Kings who would also put their own spin on the property. After Louis XIV passed away, the Palace went into a time of neglect. The French Court moved out and from 1715 to 1722, the Palace was only visited twice by the new King. It was not until Louis XV personally requested to move back to finish the work of his great-grandfather. During his time there, the Palace went under major construction: removing the Ambassador's Staircase, remodeling the apartments, and adding a theater called The Royal Opera House. Moreover, Louis XV ended up passing away in 1774 by smallpox. *Fun fact, during this time Mozart performed there as a child prodigy* Louis XVI spent most of his time in the Palace and played an important role in the War of American Independence. However, they were losing popularity because of the major taxes and Marie Antoinette's big expenses. They eventually had to leave Versailles to their last destination, Paris. During the French Revolution, Palace of Versailles did not suffer too much damage, as the workers repaired everything while the Royal families did not occupy the place. In 1793, all the sculptures and paintings that belonged to the Crown were moved to the Louvre museum while the sculptures outside remained where they are. Eventually, a law was passed that stated all the contents of the former palaces belonging to the Royal families must be disposed of, except works of arts and science, and were mostly sold off to merchants and citizens in a year. The Palace eventually became a museum and was opened in 1837. Today, it has around 2,300 rooms and is 63,154 m2 in size attracting 5 million people to the Palace and between 8 to 10 million people to its gardens every year.
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About my blog:This blog is not a weekly or bi weekly blog, I enjoy writing about things when I actually have something to write about! Throughout the posts you will see many different categories! Such as history, photoshoots, and popular topics. You can keep up with my blog by following my social media pages. Which can easily be found at the bottom of the "Home", "About", "Resume", and "Gallery" page!
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