To showcase some of its greatest projects, the Palace of Versailles has created several long-format resources focussing on exhibitions, web series and stories of all kinds. These innovative formats offer content with more documentary detail and invite visitors to plunge into the heart of the stories recounted.
05 September 2022 Long-format resources
2024 the year of the horse
As an iconic French heritage site of international renown, the Palace of Versailles has been chosen to host the equestrian events of the Olympic Games 2024. This major chapter in the long history of the Palace underlines its already very close relationship with the world of horses.
Through this long format :
- Discover the relationship between Versailles and the horse.
- View the carousel of equestrian portraits.
- Learn about the history of equestrian events in the modern Olympic Games.
- Watch the main equestrian events of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Palace of Versailles.
Visitors’ tales
For this project, three fictional accounts inspired by real historic events each tell the story of a visit to the Palace of Versailles. They are all inspired by true accounts and historic documents that featured in the “Visitors to Versailles” exhibition in 2018.
Choose one of the three characters and discover their story at the Versailles of the 17th and 18th centuries. Accompanied by a soundtrack, these accounts are an opportunity to rediscover emblematic works connected with these historic events by video.
Kosa Pan, Ambassador of Siam
In September 1686, Louis XIV received the Ambassador of Siam, Kosa Pan, during an official visit to Versailles.
Benjamin Franklin, Ambassador of the United States
During the American War of Independence, Benjamin Franklin stayed at Versailles and requested the support of France.
Hester Thrale, British writer and traveller
During her travels in France, the British protofeminist Hester Thrale’s route took her to Versailles.
Poum-Tiya and the Sun King
Written by Béatrix Saule and illustrated by Emmanuel Guibert, this tale recounts the story of Poum-Tiya, a young prince who came from the Kingdom of Siam to meet the Sun King at Versailles.
Synopsis
Once upon a time, in the Kingdom of Siam, lived a young prince who dreamed of travelling. He was 10 years old and his father, King Narai the Great, was the most powerful of monarchs in Southeast Asia. In 1686, Poum-Tiya’s dream came true: he accompanied the embassy sent by his father across the seas to meet the king of France, Louis XIV. With the help of Louis-Marie de Faverolles, a page at the court of Versailles, he was able to visit the Sun King’s palace.
This tale is inspired by the reception of the Ambassador of Siam at Versailles in 1686.
© Emmanuel Guibert
Read the story of Poum-Tiya and Louis XIV
"Voyage d'Hiver"
From 22 October 2017 to 7 January 2018, Versailles opened the doors of its estate to 17 contemporary artists for an exceptional exhibition in the gardens, titled “Voyage d'Hiver” and curated by Jean de Loisy, Rebecca Lamarche-Vadel, Yoann Gourmel and Alfred Pacquement. The works presented in the groves formed an open-air museum in which visitors could observe the transformation of the park as the cold and frost set in.
Works exhibited
The techniques used by the 17 contemporary artists proposing an original take on the gardens of Versailles included sculpture, sound installation, painting, drapery, reflection, oxidisation and glaciation.
EPV / Thomas Garnier
EPV / Thomas Garnier
EPV / Didier Saulnier
EPV / Thomas Garnier
EPV / Thomas Garnier
EPV / Thomas Garnier
EPV / Thomas Garnier
The Queen’s Hamlet
The Queen’s Hamlet can now be viewed inside and out thanks to 13 three-dimensional models on the Sketchfab platform. From the outside, you can see the buildings that make up the picturesque little village. On the inside you can enter the queen’s intimate world, taking a virtual visit through the seven rooms of her house.
Marie-Antoinette’s Hamlet
In 1783, Marie-Antoinette commissioned her architect Richard Mique to build a new feature for her Trianon garden. Built in line with the 18th-century trend for a return to nature, the Hamlet was a village comprising ten or so rustic follies set around an artificial lake.
The Royal Chapel
Three years to travel through the centuries
Begun in 2017 and completed in Spring 2021, the monumental restoration of the Royal Chapel of Versailles cast much light on the origins of this masterpiece of French art. The last of Louis XIV’s major projects, the Royal Chapel is unique by its size, opulence and modern flavour and has come to symbolise divine reverence at Versailles.
Rising above the rest of the Palace, it draws attention and sparks curiosity: how did they manage to build it so tall, so big, so beautiful? Just as at the time of its construction, the objective of this restoration project was to restore to Versailles a chapel worthy of the Sun King.
Restoration of the Royal Chapel
A Web Series on the great organ of the Royal Chapel
This 3-episode web series interviews those who look after the great organ of the Royal Chapel.
The videos present the musical context in which the organ was designed, its complex mechanisms and how they work, and an account of its recent restoration.
Other long-format resources
The Golden Children’s Fountain
"I want to see childhood everywhere": these famous words by Louis XIV inspired Jules Hardouin-Mansart’s design of the Golden Children’s Fountain, one of the masterpieces in the Versailles gardens.
Situated just next to the Water Theatre Grove, the eight gilt-lead cherubs and the pool’s ornaments underwent major restoration work thanks to the patronage of BNP Paribas Foundation and the skills patronage of D'Huart Industries. A five-episode web series retraces the steps of this incredible restoration project.
Photos-Souvenir de Versailles
Uncovering the story of the Palace of Versailles involves collecting those of its visitors. In 2014, the palace launched a large-scale photo collection campaign to bring together souvenir photos of Versailles and its visitors, from the 1900s to today.
A selection of some 100 photos can now be viewed on the Palace of Versailles’ “Photos-Souvenir” website. Sorted into themes and presented in a timeline, these photos offer an intimate, moving record of the imperishable ties between Versailles and its visitors.
The Palace of Versailles during WWI
This four-episode web series recounts how the Palace Versailles survived WWI. From the summer of 1914 to the signing of the 1919 Peace Treaty in the Hall of Mirrors, the videos offer an authentic, moving account of the palace in wartime and can be viewed on the Palace of Versailles’ YouTube channel.
