Palace of Versailles

Hall of Mirrors

The Hall of Mirrors is a long, bright gallery. Tall windows line one side, and mirrors on the other side reflect the light.

The hall is 73 meters (240 feet) long and has 357 mirrors.

King's Bedchamber

The King's Bedchamber is in the very middle of the palace. Every morning, courtiers came to watch the king get up and dress.

King Louis XIV, known as the Sun King, made this his bedroom in 1701.

Council Room

In the Council Room, the king met his ministers to talk about the country and make important decisions.

The ministers gave their advice, but the king had the final word.

King's State Apartments

The King's State Apartments are a row of grand rooms, each one named after a god or planet from old stories.

Several evenings a week, the king opened these rooms for music, card games, dancing and snacks.

Royal Chapel

The Royal Chapel is where the royal family went to church. It has two levels, one above the other.

The king went to the chapel every day, and the whole court followed him.

Queen's Bedchamber

The Queen's Bedchamber is where the queen slept and met visitors in the morning. Its walls are covered with flowered silk.

Marie-Antoinette was the last queen to live in this room.

Daily life

Behind the grand rooms, hundreds of people worked every day: cooks, servants, washers, craftspeople and musicians.

In 1682, King Louis XIV moved his whole court to Versailles, and it became the center of power in France.

Gardens and fountains

Behind the palace are huge gardens with paths, statues and fountains, laid out in neat shapes and straight lines.

The fountains could not all run at once. Fountain keepers turned them on just before the king walked past.

Courtyards

Carriages drove through the golden gates and across the courtyards to bring visitors right up to the palace doors.

The small courtyard in the middle is called the Marble Courtyard because it is paved with black and white marble.

Royal bed

The king's bed stands in an alcove behind a golden railing, under a canopy of red and gold fabric.

Every morning, a ceremony called the lever (le-VAY) took place as the king got up and dressed.

Sculpture

Above the bed, a white sculpture shows France as a woman watching over the king while he sleeps.

It was carved by the sculptor Nicolas Coustou.

Railing

The golden railing kept the crowd away from the bed. Only the most important people could go past it.

There was a bedtime ceremony every evening too, called the coucher (koo-SHAY).

Windows

The windows look out over the Marble Courtyard, at the front and center of the palace.

The room faces east, toward the rising sun.

Usher

An usher stood at the door holding a staff. He decided who was allowed to come into the room.

At Versailles, people gently scratched on a door instead of knocking, as a rule of good manners.

Courtiers

Courtiers waited for a long time for the chance to stand close to the king during the ceremonies.

Handing the king his shirt in the morning was a great honor, given to the most important person in the room.

Council Room

The doorway beside the usher leads to the Council Room, where the king met his ministers.

Louis XVI used this room for ceremonies, but he slept in a smaller, warmer bedroom nearby.

The king

King Louis XVI sits at the head of the table. He listened to his ministers before making a decision.

Louis XVI loved geography and helped plan a voyage of exploration around the world in 1785.

Minister

A minister is a person who helps the king run one part of the country, such as money, the army or the navy.

Each minister brought papers and reports to explain problems to the king.

Council table

The ministers sat around a big table covered with a long cloth, with the king at its head.

What was said in the king's councils was kept secret.

Papers and books

Letters, reports and books lie on the table. Everything was written by hand with a quill pen and ink.

Messengers on horseback carried letters between Versailles and the rest of France.

Armchairs

The armchairs are made of carved wood covered with gold, with seats of blue and gold silk.

Gilding means covering wood with a very thin layer of real gold, called gold leaf.

King's Bedchamber

A door from the Council Room leads straight into the King's Bedchamber next door.

The king could go from his bedroom to his council in just a few steps.

Hall of Mirrors

Another door opens onto the Hall of Mirrors, so the king could walk straight out into the long gallery.

The Council Room is also called the Cabinet, an old word for a small private room.

Organ

The great organ stands above the altar. Air blown through its metal pipes makes music that fills the whole chapel.

The famous composer François Couperin was one of the king's organists.

Altar

The altar is the gilded table at the front of the chapel, where priests led the service every day.

The chapel is dedicated to Saint Louis, a king of France who lived about 800 years ago.

Painted ceiling

The ceiling paintings show scenes from the Bible, painted so that the roof seems to open onto the sky.

The chapel was finished in 1710. It was the last building King Louis XIV added to the palace.

Upper gallery

The chapel has two levels. The king and his family sat upstairs, and most other people stayed on the floor below.

Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were married in this chapel in 1770. He was 15 and she was 14.

Marble floor

The floor is made of colored marble, cut and fitted together in patterns of circles and squares.

Marble is a hard stone that can be polished until it shines like glass.

King's State Apartments

On the upper level, doors lead from the chapel straight into the king's grand rooms.

The Hercules Salon, one of the largest rooms in the palace, sits between the chapel and the State Apartments.

Mirrors

Each arch on this wall is filled with mirrors. They reflect the windows across the hall, so the room looks twice as bright.

There are 357 mirrors. At the time, large mirrors were very rare and cost a fortune.

Windows

Seventeen tall windows look out over the gardens. Sunlight pours in through them and bounces off the mirrors.

Each window faces a matching arch of mirrors on the other side of the hall.

Painted ceiling

The curved ceiling is covered with paintings by the artist Charles Le Brun. They tell the story of King Louis XIV's reign.

The hall was built between 1678 and 1684 to show visitors how rich and powerful France was.

Candle stands

Gilded candle stands, called torchères, held candles to light up the hall when the sun went down.

On nights of great celebrations, thousands of candles were lit, and the mirrors made the whole hall sparkle.

Courtiers

Courtiers were nobles who lived at the palace. They walked here in their finest clothes, hoping to see the king pass by.

Every day the king crossed this hall on his way to the chapel, and the courtiers lined up to watch.

Wooden floor

The floor is made of oak boards fitted together in a pattern of squares, set at an angle like diamonds.

This floor pattern was used so much in the palace that it is still called Versailles parquet today.

King's State Apartments

At the far end of the hall, a grand room called the War Salon leads into the King's State Apartments.

At the other end of the hall, the Peace Salon leads to the queen's rooms.

Council Room

A door in the long wall of the hall opens into the king's own rooms, starting with the Council Room.

In 1919, long after the kings, world leaders signed a famous peace treaty in this hall.

Throne

In the Apollo Salon, the king's throne stood on a raised platform under a canopy. Here he welcomed important visitors.

King Louis XIV's first throne was made of solid silver and was taller than a grown-up.

Ceiling painting

The ceiling shows Apollo, the sun god of old Greek stories, riding his chariot across the sky.

King Louis XIV was called the Sun King, so the sun god Apollo was his favorite symbol.

Chandelier

A chandelier is a hanging light with many candles. Its glass drops catch the candlelight and scatter it around the room.

Before electric lights, every room in the palace was lit by candles, lamps and fireplaces.

Tapestry

A tapestry is a picture woven from colored threads. Big tapestries decorated the walls and helped keep rooms warmer.

Many tapestries for the king were woven at the royal Gobelins workshop in Paris.

Bowing courtiers

Courtiers followed strict rules about how to stand, bow and walk in front of the king and queen.

These rules of polite behavior were called etiquette, a French word we still use today.

Hall of Mirrors

The open doors lead along the row of grand rooms, one after another, all the way to the Hall of Mirrors.

A straight line of doors that lets you see through many rooms at once is called an enfilade.

Royal bed

The queen's bed stands behind a golden railing. Its canopy is topped with fluffy white feathers.

Nineteen royal children were born in this room.

Railing

The golden railing separates the bed from the rest of the room. Only certain people could step past it.

Every morning, the queen received visitors in this room as part of daily life at court.

Silk walls

The walls are covered with silk decorated with flowers, ribbons and feathers, matching the bed and chairs.

The fabrics were changed with the seasons, with lighter silks in summer and warmer ones in winter.

Stools

The little padded stools are called tabourets. Most ladies had to stand when they were with the queen.

Only duchesses and a few other high-ranking ladies were allowed to sit on a stool near the queen.

Fireplace

A marble fireplace warmed the room. In winter, fires burned in fireplaces all over the palace.

Big palaces like Versailles were very hard to keep warm, so people wore many layers of clothes.

The queen

Marie-Antoinette became queen of France in 1774. She lived at Versailles from 1770, when she married Louis XVI.

She was born in Austria and came to France when she was 14 years old.

Hidden door

Next to the bed, part of the flowered wall is really a door. When it is closed, it is very hard to spot.

Hidden doors let the queen move between her rooms without crossing the crowded public rooms.

Hall of Mirrors

From the queen's rooms, a grand room called the Peace Salon leads into the Hall of Mirrors.

A small door hidden in the wall next to the bed led to the queen's private rooms.

Kitchens

Dozens of cooks, bakers and helpers worked in the palace kitchens. Meat roasted over big fires, and copper pots hung on the walls.

The kitchens were far from the royal table, so the food often arrived only warm, not hot.

Royal public meal

At the Grand Couvert, the king and queen ate their dinner in public, and visitors could come in to watch them eat.

The king and queen sat side by side with their backs to the fireplace, and the queen sat on the king's left.

Pantry

Storerooms were filled with flour, bread, barrels and baskets, enough food for everyone who lived and worked at the palace.

Hundreds of people who worked for the palace lived in a big building next to it, called the Grand Commun.

Linen room

Sheets, tablecloths and clothes were kept here on tall shelves, folded neatly and ready to use.

All the royal clothes and sheets were washed, ironed and mended by hand, without any machines.

Queen's private rooms

In her small private rooms, Marie-Antoinette could rest, read and sew, away from the crowds of the court.

These rooms were tucked behind the grand rooms and reached by little doors and corridors.

King's library

Louis XVI's library was full of books about geography, history and science. He liked to read and study maps.

The king was also good with his hands, and making locks was one of his hobbies.

Evening

In the evening, servants drew the curtains, lit the candles and got the rooms ready for the night.

Many servants slept in small rooms nearby, so they could come quickly when they were called.

Gold decoration

Gilders covered carved wood with thin sheets of real gold, called gold leaf, to make frames and furniture shine.

Gold leaf is so thin that it floats in the air and is picked up with a soft, wide brush.

The palace household

The palace household was everyone who served the royal family, from cooks and maids to guards and coachmen.

Each job had its own name and rules, and many families served the palace for generations.

Latona Fountain

Latona stands with her children, Apollo and Diana, above the fountain. Gilded frogs and lizards surround the marble tiers. Thin jets of water curve into the basin.

The Grand Canal

The Grand Canal stretches through the park. A second arm crosses the long main channel. Its calm water reflects the trees and sky, and small boats carry passengers across the water.

Latona and her children

The marble group tells the story of Latona, Apollo and Diana.

Gilded frogs

Water flows from small gilded frogs and lizards around the tiers.

Citrus trees

Orange and lemon trees grow in wooden containers that gardeners can move.

Stone galleries

The trees shelter inside the Orangery galleries during winter.

Rowing boats

Rowers move the small wooden boats with oars.

Straight banks

The straight channels make a long view through the park.

Hedge shears

Gardeners trim the hedge by hand with long shears.

Planting flowers

A gardener loosens the soil and tends the flowers.

Watering plants

A watering can carries water to the plants.