The Royal Chapel Annexes

Planning for the Royal Chapel’s construction began back in the 1680s, but it was postponed for financial reasons. It resumed in 1699, and continued until about 1710.

As early as 1682, Louis XIV had asked for the Lazarist missionaries (of whom there were 14 to begin with and later 21) to be appointed to celebrate mass. The Chapel’s organisation thus called for extensive ancillary spaces, for which a site was set aside at the end of the North Wing. These spaces were laid out circa 1708-1710, under the supervision of Jules Hardouin-Mansart and then Robert de Cotte.

The annexes grouped together the various functions associated with worship or the running of the Chapel (including the Lazarists’ Residence, Classroom for the altar boys, Musicians’ Room, Verger’s and Preacher’s Residences, Grand Sacristy and Pièce du Lavabo), which slotted in among the residences for courtiers, officers and other guards occupying the rest of the North Wing.

Exterior view of the Royal Chapel

© EPV/Didier Saulnier

The Royal Chapel Annexes: uniquely authentic spaces

Nothing has changed much about the rooms adjacent to the Chapel since the Ancien Régime. Like the rest of the Palace, the residences were revamped and their spaces optimised at regular intervals from the mid-18th century, and a staircase landing was converted into an Oratory for Madame de Pompadour. In the 19th century, when the Africa Rooms were fitted out, the whole end of the North Wing was preserved thanks to the need to keep the Sacristy. Only the Lazarists’ Staircase was demolished to make way for a heating system for the Smalah Room.

As such, the rooms adjacent to the Royal Chapel give us a rare and special glimpse into the day-to-day life of the Chapel servers and courtiers during the Ancien Régime.

As part of the Royal Chapel’s restoration, work is required today in these rooms too, owing to their sometimes severe state of dilapidation.

Urgent restoration work

The use of the chapel as a performance venue has taken a toll on some of the rooms, because of the specific logistical and layout requirements. Their restoration has therefore become necessary today, while their technical facilities are in need of renovation.

The large Sacristy and the Pièce du Lavabo

The Large Sacristy of the Chapel is a group of rooms of significant heritage value located in the north wing of the Palace. They are now in need of major restoration to preserve these spaces and make them accessible to the public. Connected to the first bay of the ambulatory, they are arranged around an access corridor on the lower level, flush with the Chapel floor. This corridor leads to the Large Sacristy to the north and the washroom to the east.

The Large Sacristy is the most spacious and most valuable room among the annexes of the Royal Chapel. While the richly carved doors opening onto the Chapel are painted and gilded, the rest of the 18th-century woodwork in the Chapel’s annexes is simply waxed using the traditional “à la capucine” finish, in keeping with ecclesiastical woodwork practice. The lower section of the corridor, as well as the adjoining rooms, is fully panelled in wood, giving these three spaces a remarkable sense of unity. These rooms are composed of panelling and built-in fitted furniture with moulded or even carved detailing, and feature parquet floors in the Versailles style with borders and framed compartments. Austerity and grandeur, combined with an exceptional quality of timber and craftsmanship, define these timeless spaces.

A major intervention is required in the Lavabo Room: the floor has subsided by more than ten centimetres, causing significant deformation of the wood panelling. The valuable Languedoc marble lavabo and its lead piping will be restored using traditional methods. The choir stalls have also suffered from significant deformation.

The restoration of the annexes of the Royal Chapel will also make it possible to implement a museographic project and present the Chapel’s “treasure”, through the discreet conversion of the cupboards in the Washroom into display cases. At the same time, the Large Sacristy will continue to be used for liturgical purposes.

The restoration and redevelopment of these spaces will make it possible to envisage the creation of a new visitor route in a part of the Palacethat has not previously been open to the public.

Patronage

The musicians’ room and cantors’ vestry have been restored thanks to the generous support of the patron Fondation Philanthropia.

Madame de Pompadour’s Oratory has been restored thanks to the generous support of the patron Fondation Frédéric de Sainte-Opportune, under the aegis of the Fondation Notre-Dame.

The Sacristy and Pièce du Lavabo are currently being restored thanks to the generous support of the patron Société des Amis de Versailles and the Fondation du patrimoine.

The Palace of Versailles thanks Miss Madeleine Faucheux-Bureau, Mrs. Françoise Dufaux and Mr. Guy Renard for their generous bequests via the Société des Amis de Versailles.