My mom never told me how her best friend died. Once the epicenter of French royalty, the elegant estate has undergone several transformations since its conception in the 17th century. Years later, I was using her phone when I made an utterly chilling discovery. Louis XV’s Royal Opera of Versailles was built to celebrate the marriage between his grandson, then the Dauphin, and later Louis XVI, to Marie Antoinette. For sexy purposes. However, it wasn’t just nostalgia which convinced Louis to relocate. The Palace of Versailles boasts a grandiose history. One of history’s first elevators was installed right in Versailles. However, his wife’s father defaulted on the dowry. This may be editorializing, but I think Louis invented the state of modern tourism…. And for the drama enthusiast, the opera house in Versailles hosts shows and performances that dazzle the spectators the same way they did in Louis XVI’s reign. For a palace as big as Versailles, however, this arrangement resulted in significant transport time for meals. Although it’s really 17th century King Louis XIV (and all the other French Louis’s) who made Versailles famous, it was a Florentine courtier who probably brought the palace to minor royal attention. The vast forests around Versailles weren’t just picturesque; they were a popular place for sex workers ply their trade, mostly with builders looking for relief during the palace’s constant facelifts. Christine Tran is a history buff(ette) and media scholar. © Copyright 2020 by Factinate.com. Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIII’s rejected queen—but few people know her even darker history. The Petit Trianon is a castle-within-a-castle at Versailles. A compromise was met with mirrors, which Versailles used in plentitude to reflect and amplify lighting. Tourists often report walking into palace rooms and finding themselves amid those rollicking 18th-century royal parties. Louis XIV’s first building campaign for Versailles kicked off with a characteristically huge party. The Palace of Versailles required the work of approximately 3000 people to construct the building and the grounds. Marie Antoinette’s last words were “pardon me, I meant not to do it.” She had stepped on the executioner’s foot on the way to the guillotine. The original golden gates of Versailles were destroyed in the French Revolution. One royal mistress wrote how this excessive intermingle of “natural” smells would make people sick nearly every night. But was Versailles all boundless gardens and champagne? The earliest mention of Versailles was in a 1038 document that made to its owner: a minor lord by the name of “Hugo de Versailles.”. Cold meals were the small price Louis XIV paid to live in splendor. This storage of knowledge—in addition to the countless works of art housed in the building—was partly why Revolutionaries called to turn Versailles into an official museum. Was it worth it? He could now see anyone he wanted to in less than an hour, which had not been possible in Paris. The French people looked at the Palace of Versailles as a symbol of what was wrong with life in France at the time. Sure, Versailles looked hot in its heyday, but the winter months were difficult. The chair required a whole staff to stand inside the chimney and lift the king to his lover’s nest. The Peace Treaty of Versailles was signed by Benjamin Franklin and Louis XVI pledging French support to the American Revolution in 1783. “It was like the first time I visited Versailles. In 1661, Louis officially moved court there after he appointed himself as his own chief minister. Even when the palace took a hiatus from servings as the royal HQ in the early reign of Louis XV, the palace caretakers made sure to activate the Grandes Eaux Fountain every two weeks, just in case. 20th-century oil billionaire John D. Rockefeller felt a special affinity with Versailles. The room is one of the most spectacular in the palace and was originally lit with candles (3000). In the 17th century, the designers and landscapers of the Gardens of Versailles were so extra that they nearly destroyed everyone’s nostrils. Before you hashtag that “equality,” it’s good to know that this move might have been a slight to Louis’s XIV’s father-in-law, Phillip IV of Spain. Versailles miraculously survived the French Revolution, but it just barely survived a 1999 battle with Mother Nature. Versailles’ remote locale kept Louis’s frenemies without other city-based resources and utterly dependent on their king. Escape the guillotine and head to the Hall of Mirrors to reflect on these 44 decadent facts about the Palace of Versailles. There were two smaller palaces at the Palace of Versailles including the Petit Trianon - which was Marie Antoinette's personal escape from palace life. Our credibility is the turbo-charged engine of our success. There are tons of fun family attractions to keep…, Valleys are often surrounded by huge mountainous landscape, and because they are hidden you can find many surprising…, Every Airports Wifi Password Around the World on a Single Map, 15 of the Most Disappointing Places to Visit in the World, An Open Letter to the Parents of Daughters who Long to Travel, 30+ Great Gift Ideas for Travellers Besides Actual Plane Tickets, Get the Drinks In As These Pubs and Bars Reopen in Leeds, Antigua and Barbuda Will Let You Stay For Two Years to Work Remotely, The Most Photogenic Travel Companion Ever, 5 Interesting Historical Facts About The Palace of Versailles. Louis XVI’s queen Marie-Antoinette gave orders for the gardens to be replanted in English style and build a rustic hamlet (a working farm with several cottages). After the death of Louis XIV in 1715, Versailles fell back into royal neglect, albeit briefly. It shows a lavish display of grandeur, imposed by art and luxury. The palace is famous for its ornately designed rooms, most notably, the hall of mirrors, the opera hall, and exquisite water fountains. Its heyday as a royal residence came in the 1600s and lasted until the late 1700s. I wander purposefully across the globe to pen my insights here at