This grove replaced the famous Labyrinth that illustrated at its crossroads thirty-nine fables of Aesop with lead animals in fountains painted in natural colours. Built in 1669 after an idea of the tale-teller Charles Perrault, it was destroyed during the replanting of the gardens in 1775-1776, and replaced by the Queen’s Grove. The present sculpted decor was installed in the late 19th century.
Laid out by André Le Nôtre between 1680 and 1683, the open-air Cascade Ballroom is also called the Rocaille Grove, because of the millstones and the sea shells brought back from the coasts of Africa and Madagascar over which the water pours down in a cascade. The marble “island” in the centre, easily accessible, was used for dancing, an art in which Louis XIV excelled. The musicians played above the cascade and, facing them, an amphitheatre with grassy rows of seats enabled the spectators to sit down.
The Girandole Grove, a pendant to the Dauphin’s Grove, replaced old quincunxes in the south planted in the reign of Louis XVI. It has changed very little since it was installed, and is decorated with sculptures on tapering plinths commissioned by the Superintendent of Finance, Nicolas Fouquet, for his château in Vaux-le-Vicomte and executed in Rome based on models by Poussin.
The Mirror Fountain was located at the extremity of a large ornamental lake called Cupid’s Island or the Royal Island (1674) on which were tested scale models of warships. Completely neglected during the Revolutionary years, it was redesigned on the order of Louis XVIII in 1817, when the architect Dufour laid out the King’s Garden, an enclosed garden laid out in the English style, planted with superb tree species most of which, unfortunately, were blown down in the great storm of 1999. All that remains today is the original layout of the Mirror fountain.
Organised between 1680 and 1683, the grove called the Chestnuts Room was then called the Gallery of Antiques or Water Gallery, and had a central path lined with orange trees, yews, ponds and water jets. Along this path there used to be a line of eighty antique statues. Entirely redesigned in 1704, the grove became the Chestnuts Room, adorned with eight antique busts and two statues.
Build from 1685 on by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the Colonnade replaced a grove designed by Le Nôtre in 1679: the Springs Grove. A peristyle accompanies the 32 marble columns. The triangular tympani between the arcades are decorated with low relief carvings depicting children. The arch stones are adorned with heads of nymphs and naiads. The famous group in the centre on a circular marble base was executed between 1678 and 1699 by Girardon: Proserpine Ravished by Pluto.
Very frequently redesigned, this grove changed its name with each new modification of its decor. Designed by Le Nôtre in 1675, it was then the Grove of Fame, in 1677-1678, owing to the statue of Fame in the centre of the fountain and which spouted a jet of water from its trumpet. Between 1684 and 1704, the groups from Apollo’s Baths were placed here, giving it its new name in this period: the Grove of Apollo’s Baths. But in 1677, Jules Hardouin-Mansart built two pavilions of white marble surmounted by domes, giving it is present name, although the two buildings were destroyed in 1820.
The Encelade Fountain was sculpted in lead by Gaspard Marsy between 1675 and 1677. The subject is taken from the myth of the fall of the Titans who were buried under the rocks of Mount Olympus which they tried to climb in defiance of the prohibition of Jupiter. The sculptor has depicted a giant half buried under the rocks and in the throes of death.
The Obelisk fountain was built by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in 1704, to replace the old Festive Room or Council Room, laid out by Le Nôtre in 1671. Decorative features and sculptures in moulded lead were used at the time to adorn the fountains of the garden of the Grand Trianon.
The Dauphin ‘s Grove, also known as “The Two Groves” along with the Girandole, is one of the very first designed by André Le Nôtre around 1660. At the end of the 17th century, the sculptor Théodon completed the series of sculptures dedicated to the seasons and mythological gods.
This grove was one of the first to be laid out by André Le Nôtre in the northern part of the Garden, in 1666. The star-shaped pattern of the principal paths, the labyrinth of internal paths, with the centre laid out as a ‘greenery room’ enlivened by the jets of the fountain and enclosed by trellises, make it a genuine open-air salon.
This grove, formerly called the Marsh, was laid out during the reign of Louis XIV, between 1670 and 1673, at the request of Mme de Montespan, it is said. In 1704, Jules Hardouin-Mansart designed for this place a new grove intended to host the groups of the Sun Horses and Apollo served by the Nymphs. These groups were sculpted between 1664 and 1672 to adorn the famous Grotto of Tethys, and when the latter was destroyed to build the north wing of the Château, it was transferred to the Grove of the Domes. Hardouin-Mansart then designed this place to highlight these particularly remarkable works. In 1776, one year after the order given by Louis XVI to replant the park, the painter Hubert Robert was commissioned to produce a new layout. The grove which he imagined, completed in 1778, was laid out in the then fashionable style of English-Chinese gardens. This one has survived to our day.
To the north of the gardens, between the Green Round (the former Water Theatre Grove) and the Star (the former Water Mountain Grove), hidden away from the most frequented walks, there is a circular pool with a rock in the centre. The Children’s Island, a light-hearted masterpiece, was sculpted by Hardy in 1710. Six nude children play with flowers while two others splash about in the water.
Designed by Le Nôtre in 1677, this grove is the only one mentioned on an old plan as “from the king’s thoughts”. It consists of three terraces each with a different fountain. Restored in 2005, it has recovered its magnificent composition and its jets of water desired by the king: in the lower fountain, the jets form a fleur-de-lys in the centre, vertical spouts and a vault of water, while above it is a column of water formed by 140 jets; moreover, it is this imposing column which supplies the lower fountains. Well hidden by the trellises, this grove had been laid out so that the king, aged 39, then suffering from gout, could reach it seated in a chair with castors and get up the grassy access ramps.
Completed between 1679 and 1683, this grove has only one fountain, La France triomphante, the work of the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Tuby. However, during the reign of Louis XIV, a large triumphal arch was built here and gave its name to this ‘green salon’. Two fountains not far from the Three Fountains, La Gloire and La Victoire, have not survived and were probably melted down in the 19th century.
Places of entertainment, designed by the gardener and architect André Le Nôtre, the groves of Versailles were often redesigned over the centuries. Fountains, vases and statues decorate these green spaces where Louis XIV and his Court came regularly to relax and dance.
Drawing rooms of greenery laid out in the wooden areas on either side of the paths and walks, the groves form small enclosed gardens surrounded by trellises or palisades of foliage reached along unobtrusive paths, with metal gates closing off the entrance. A contemporary of Louis XIV, the marquis de Dangeau, called them “the hidden fountains”. Adorned with fountains, vases and statues, the groves offer surprises and areas of fantasy inside the great garden. They were used as open-air salons and the Court came here to enjoy collations, listen to music and dance.
Under the reign of Louis XIV, the gardens of Versailles had fifteen groves. A counterpoint to the strict regularity of the general layout of the gardens, their decor and form were different and their purpose was to surprise the visitor by their diversity. André Le Nôtre designed most of the groves but some of them were modified by Jules Hardouin-Mansart. However, owing to their costly and difficult maintenance, some groves deteriorated quickly and were closed off in the 18th century. One of the most celebrated, the Labyrinth, was destroyed during the replanting of the gardens in 1775-1776. Others such as Apollo’s Baths were transformed in line with the vogue for English-Chinese gardens under the reign of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. In the 19th century, the royal island was filled in and became the King’s Garden planted with rare and exotic trees.