From royal residence to republic

From 1 April, the Palace of Versailles is inviting visitors to step through its doors to discover or rediscover the palace’s little-known spots and the full breadth of its collections from a fresh perspective.
Members of the public are now being given free rein to explore the palace’s nooks and crannies, including the royal residence’s ground floor where court life once played out and the princes were raised, the Royal Tennis Court’s insight into the dawning of republican history in Versailles, the Royal Stables’ astonishing collection of coaches and carriages, and the gardens’ sculptural masterpieces.

The Dauphin’s restored apartment

On the ground floor of the palace’s main building, one of the former royal residence’s most prestigious apartments awaits: the Dauphin’s apartment. After years spent closed and 18 months of restoration works to return it to the condition it would once have enjoyed when Louis XV lived there in 1740, the apartment is now open to the public once more. The rooms’ sumptuous décor is an ode to Rococo extravagance, and offers up a glimpse of the royal family’s private life.
Open to the public for self-guided tours, every day except Monday.

The royal residence’s ground floor

With the Dauphin’s restored apartment now open to the public, visitors will be invited to wander the royal residence’s ground floor in its entirety for the very first time.
Open to the public for self-guided tours, every day except Monday.

The apartments of Louis XV’s daughters
Located just across from the Dauphin’s apartments, a succes-sion of nine rooms unfurl, once home to Madame Adélaïde and Madame Victoire up until the French Revolution. Alternating between reception rooms and private chambers, these royal apartments are an invaluable, highly evocative testimony to the royal family’s life in Versailles as the sun set on the Ancien Régime.

The Palace Police Room
This sweeping reception room is located at the far end of the apartments once occupied by Louis XV’s daughters, and offers views of the statues in the Labyrinth grove. Dreamt up by Louis XIV, this now-iconic clearing vanished under Louis XVI, and once depicted Aesop’s Fables through 39 different fountains featuring 330 painted lead animals. Today, around 20 sculptures have been dusted off and put on display for members of the public to admire.

The Captain of the Guard's apartment
This apartment gives out onto the Marble Courtyard and houses an incredible gallery of portraits of the royal family and those close to them, as well as several ministers of state active under Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. The public will be treated to a selection of 18th-century masterpieces kept in the Palace of Versailles’ collections, including paintings from some of the great masters of the times, such as Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun.

Marie-Antoinette’s bedchamber and bathroom
In an attempt to shrug off the shackles of palace etiquette in her own small way, Marie-Antoinette sought refuge in the intimacy of her private apartments (a small apartment on the ground floor, and the private chambers on the upper floors). Members of the public are invited to step inside the queen’s two most private rooms: her bedchamber and bathroom.

The restored royal Tennis Court

Following eight months of restoration works, the Royal Tennis Court at Versailles is open to visitors once more: a chance to venture deep into a place that embodies the French Revolution and the dawning of democracy. Visitors will be given the opportunity to explore a site that remains little-known despite the space it occupies in the collective imaginary.
Once the stage for the famous Tennis Court Oath taken on 20 June 1789, the room also houses the Chimay Attic and its sketch of Jacques-Louis David’s famous drawing depicting the event.
Visitors can choose to embark on a circuit that leads them deep into the history of the Republic, taking them through the Congress Room where members of the National Assembly and the Senate still meet to vote on revisions to the Constitution.
Open to school groups and to members of the public for guided tours.
Book at chateauversailles.fr

The Gallery of Coaches

In the King’s Great Stables, visitors are met by a breathtaking collection of coaches and carriages kept at the Palace of Versailles, leading them through an astonishing “18th- and 19th-century car show” of sorts, where the most intriguing prototypes and cutting-edge technology in French carriage-making comfort and performance are on display for all to see. Each a work of art in its own right, the carriages here recount chapters in the history of France, embodying specific political or royal events, from christenings and weddings to coronations and funerals. The collection is first and foremost a living, breathing snapshot of courtly life and the opulence of the Ancien Régime, French Empire and Restoration eras.
Free admission.
Open to the public for self-guided tours every Saturday and Sunday from 12:30pm to 6:30pm.

The Sculptures and Mouldings Gallery

The King’s Small Stables are home to over 60 original sculptures: marble masterpieces that bring Versailles’ gardens to life. From 1664 on, Louis XIV commissioned the great master sculptors of the times to produce works for the Palace’s gardens, transforming them into one of the world’s most prestigious open-air sculpture museums.
A wide-scale campaign has been in place at the Palace of Versailles since 2008 to counter the inevitable erosion that blights these outdoor sculptures. As a result, the original sculptures have been sheltered in the Small Stables, while replicas have taken their place in the garden.
Free admission.
Open to the public for self-guided tours every Saturday and Sunday afternoon from 12:30pm to 6:30pm.
From 14 May to 13 July: every day except Monday from 12:30pm to 6:30pm.