Palace of Versailles (Versailles, France)

February 2018
ARCH 162-M12
Palace of Versailles (Versailles, France); NeoClassicism and Classicism
The Palace of Versailles was the epitome of the rise of Neoclassicism in France. The Palace was originally a hunting lodge for Louis XIII because of the wildlife roaming in the uncultivated lands. This hunting lodge was used for the king and a few of his friends to stay during hunting trips. Louis XIV, the successor on the other hand begun to made the palace what it is known as today. As he ruled France for seventy two years, his mission was to centralize the government of France and he did so around the Louis XIII hunting lodge. For the lodge to become the center of France’s government, it was forced to go under huge renovations in order to make it bigger and better. He surrounded the lodge with a palace containing north and south wings, while at the same time surrounding his new palace with buildings for his ministries. To the west of his palace, Louis XIV had gardens and fountains. These gardens, displayed man’s power over nature as these gardens were previously wild and uncultivated. The gardens of versailles represented a sense of restrained classicism as the near symmetrical geometric patterns create a sense of harmony. The garden consisted of many groves and bosquets that even created outdoor rooms for the king and his government, so the gardens did not only act as landscape but as architecture. In 1689, these gardens stretched 19,800 acres and was surrounded by twenty seven miles of wall. Eventually these hunting walls enclosed almost 37,065 acres. By creating this wall, the king was capable of keeping the hunting game in and the subjects of the king out. Even his palace was meant to resemble his power and the power of France. Versailles became the center of French government in 1682. King Louis did not like the dirtiness nor the business of the city and preferred the vast countryside where he was capable of expanding his territory with prosperous buildings. If it was not enough to demonstrate his power by building his own palace and moving the entirety of the French government into its three hundred and fifty odd rooms, he built a second mini palace in order to get away from how busy his first palace was. This mini palace known as the Chateau at Marley was not as dominant as the first as it was only meant for retreating from his work as king. Additional work was completed by Marie Antoinette who ultimately created her own doll house in the form of a village. Her construction consisted of a farm in order to get fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as a small theater to get entertainment, followed by a temple of love to provide her with even more entertainment closer to home... as she could see it from her bedroom. Versailles was built up continuously during its lifetime as bigger showed more power, so bigger was better. Overall, the palace of Versailles stood as the capital of the modern construction in France.

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