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.

Restoration work was carried out on these rooms between 2022 and 2026, necessitated due to their sometimes advanced state of dilapidation. These operations continued on from the restoration of the Royal Chapel.

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 had therefore become necessary, and their technical facilities were also in need of renovation.

The large Sacristy and the Pièce du Lavabo

The Chapel’s Large Sacristy is composed of a set of rooms of major heritage value, located in the Palace’s North Wing. It was in need of major restoration work in order to preserve it and make it accessible to the public. Connected to the first bay of the ambulatory, it is organised around an access corridor on the lower level, flush with the Chapel floor. To the north, the corridor leads to the Large Sacristy, while to the east, it leads to the Pièce du Lavabo.

The Large Sacristy is the most spacious and most valuable room among the Royal Chapel’s annexes. While the richly carved doors opening onto the Chapel are painted and gilded, the rest of the 18^th-century woodwork in the Chapel’s annexes is simply waxed “à la capucine”, in keeping with ecclesiastical woodwork practice. The lower section of the corridor and the adjoining rooms are wood-panelled throughout, providing all three areas with a remarkable sense of unity. The rooms are composed of wainscoting panels and moulded, even sculpted bespoke furniture, and feature Versailles parquet floors with framed basketweave compartments. Austerity and grandeur, combined with outstanding quality of timber and joinery, characterise these timeless spaces.

Major repairs were required in the Pièce du Lavabo as the floor had subsided by more than ten centimetres, causing extensive warping of the wainscoting. Traditional methods were applied to restore the priceless Languedoc marble basin and its lead pipework.

Restoration of the Royal Chapel’s annexes also enabled implementation of a museographic project and presentation of the Chapel’s “treasure”, thanks to the discreet conversion of the Pièce du Lavabo’s cupboards into display cases. In parallel, the Large Sacristy will continue to be used for religious purposes, thanks in particular to restoration of the cope chests, which had suffered significant warping.

The restoration and refurbishment of these spaces have led to the creation of a new visitor route through a part of the Palace previously closed to the public.

Patronage

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

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

The Large Sacristy and Pièce du Lavabo have been restored thanks to the patronage of the members of Société des Amis de Versailles and its legators, Ms Madeleine Faucheux-Bureau, Ms Françoise Dufaux and Mr Guy Renard, with the support of the Fondation du patrimoine.