Secrets of Versailles

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Co-published with the public establishment of the Château de Versailles, this work presents Versailles as the architectural manifestation of the dreams of kings, a waking dream that combines a taste for splendor with a sensitivity to form. Versailles should be understood as a complex organism whose ceremonial attire conceals the backstage or the more intimate than public spaces. The royal residence is the main stage of monarchical life around which the city and park are organized. This guide addresses this unique ensemble of the world, the castle and its annexes in the city as well as its extensions towards the gardens. In short, it explores the everyday Versailles, the Versailles that has always been inhabited. Notably, it reveals: - the attics of the Hall of Mirrors - the wardrobe cabinet of the King's apartments - the bathing cabinet of Louis XV - the secret passages between the King's room and the Queen's room - the King's office, a safe for state secrets - Madame de Pompadour's flying chair - Louis XVI's forge - the sacristy of the royal chapel - the Little Venice of the Grand Canal - the former menagerie of Louis XIV - the arrangements of the dining room of the Petit Trianon... and, in the city: - Madame de Pompadour's hotel - the Pavilion of the Springs - the mysterious Deer Park - the War Hotel - Madame Élisabeth's orangery - the portal of the former chapel of the Récollets convent...