Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles sits about sixteen kilometres south-west of Paris — at once a royal château and one of France's great historical monuments. Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI all made it their principal residence: from 6 May 1682 to 6 October 1789, the king, the court, and the government lived here. Louis XIV built Versailles to project the absolute power of the French crown, and it remains his reign's defining achievement — a masterpiece of classical architecture covering more than 63,000 square metres, with 2,300 rooms set within 815 hectares of formal gardens. Walk through its state apartments, halls, courtyards, and staircases, and you'll find that almost every corner holds a story most visitors walk straight past.
France · 37 The overlooked corners inside
The overlooked corners inside
Ambassadors' Staircase
You won't find this staircase at Versailles today — it no longer exists. But in the seventeenth century, foreign ambassadors climbed its grand double-return stone steps to wait for an audience with the king and present their credentials; the name followed naturally. Also known as the Grand Staircase of Versailles, it was a ceremonial stair of honour built and decorated between 1672 and 1679, designed by architect François d'Orbay and decorated by the painter Charles Le Brun.
Museum of the History of France
The reason you can buy a ticket and walk through Versailles today comes down to a king who turned an abandoned royal palace into a public museum. After 1789 the palace stood empty; in 1837, King Louis-Philippe I converted it into the Museum of the History of France, dedicated "to all the glories of France" — whether they belonged to the Ancien Régime, the Revolution, the Empire, or the Restoration. From that point the palace opened to the public, and the old royal apartments, salons, and the Hall of Mirrors became sites that anyone could visit.
Crusades Rooms
The five Crusades Rooms were opened by Louis-Philippe in 1843 to display heraldic devices and artefacts relating to the medieval Crusades. The choice of subject was not purely historical: Louis-Philippe was the "citizen king" who had come to power after the July Revolution of 1830, and large numbers of the old nobility had resigned their posts in protest at the fall of Charles X. He needed a gesture. Placing family coats of arms on the walls of Versailles was a symbolic act of recognition — any family claiming a crusading ancestor could apply to have their arms registered here. Victor Hugo endorsed the project: "What Louis-Philippe has done at Versailles is good… To create such a work is to be both a great king and a just philosopher."
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House at Versailles was the last great work of Louis XV's reign, completed in 1770 — in time for his grandson, the future Louis XVI, to marry the Austrian archduchess Marie Antoinette there. Architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel led the design; construction began in 1768, partly so that the royal wedding would have a venue worthy of the occasion. Louis XV used it to close out what had been a century of work begun by Louis XIV: "A few years before that wedding, Louis XV finished the Sun King's masterpiece."
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Queen's Private Apartments
The Queen's Private Apartments lie behind the state rooms, a suite of smaller rooms looking onto two interior courtyards — the private living space of the queens of France: Marie-Thérèse, Marie Leszczyńska, and Marie Antoinette. Unlike the grand state apartments open to the court, this is where the queen actually slept, bathed, and spent time with her family. The rooms are now displayed as they were on 6 October 1789, the day Marie Antoinette left Versailles for the last time.
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Cabinet of Dispatches
The Cabinet of Dispatches is a small, deliberately plain workroom in the King's Private Ap… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Queen's State Apartments
The Queen's State Apartments are a suite of five salons on the ground floor of the palace'… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
King's Private Apartments
The King's Private Apartments — also called the King's Inner Apartments — lie behind the s… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Madame du Barry's Apartments
Madame du Barry's Apartments occupy thirteen rooms on the second floor of the palace's cen… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Madame de Pompadour's Apartments
Madame de Pompadour's Apartments occupy the attic storey (*attique*) directly above the Ki… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
King's State Apartments
The King's State Apartments are a suite of seven salons that formed the stage for Louis XI… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Gallery of Battles
The Gallery of Battles stretches 120 metres long and 13 metres wide through almost the ent… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
King's Apartment
The King's Apartment was the most private residential core of Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Lou… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Madame Victoire's Bedchamber
The floor you're standing on is where Louis XIV once bathed. This room — later known as Ma… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.chateauversailles.fr · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org
Cour d'Honneur
The Cour d'Honneur (Honour Courtyard) is the first courtyard visitors enter at Versailles… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Marble Courtyard
The Marble Courtyard is the oldest and innermost heart of Versailles — identifiable by its… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Cour des Cerfs
The Cour des Cerfs (Stag Courtyard) is one of four interior courtyards in the North Wing's… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Cour des Princes
The Cour des Princes (Princes' Courtyard) is an exterior courtyard on the town side of the… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Royal Courtyard
The Royal Courtyard is the middle of Versailles' three aligned courtyards — between the Co… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Congress Hall
The Congress Hall at Versailles was not part of any original design — it is the result of… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Louis XVI's Library
Louis XVI's Library is the most personal room he left at Versailles, and the last work at… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Ministers' Wings
The Ministers' Wings are the two symmetrical flanking buildings on the north and south sid… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Coronation Room
The Coronation Room takes its name from its most important painting: Jacques-Louis David's… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
South Wing
The South Wing is one of the longest of Versailles' subsidiary wings, designed by Jules Ha… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Grotto of Thetis
The Grotto of Thetis no longer exists, but it was one of the most important installations… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Hall of Mirrors
The Hall of Mirrors is 73 metres long and 11 metres wide. Three hundred and fifty-seven mi… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Royal Chapel
The Royal Chapel is the fifth and final chapel built at Versailles, consecrated in 1710, t… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
North Wing
The North Wing is Versailles' northern subsidiary wing, built by Jules Hardouin-Mansart be… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Louis XVI's Gaming Salon
Louis XVI's Gaming Salon is part of the King's Private Apartments, occupying the site of t… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Council Chamber
The Council Chamber was where royal power was actually exercised at Versailles: from 1682… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Bull's Eye Antechamber
The Bull's Eye Antechamber (Antichambre de l'Œil-de-Bœuf) is the final antechamber before… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Antechamber of the Queen's Nobles
The Antechamber of the Queen's Nobles (*Antichambre des Nobles de la Reine*) is the second… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
King's Bedchamber
The King's Bedchamber as it stands today dates from 1701, built on the site of an earlier… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles (Château de Versailles) stands in the town of Versailles in the Y… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · wikidata.org
Treaty of Versailles Signing Room
Standing in the Hall of Mirrors, you are standing not just in an exhibition gallery but on… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Dufour Pavilion
The Dufour Pavilion is the nineteenth-century addition to the main body of the palace, bui… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
Gabriel Wing
The Gabriel Wing (*Aile Gabriel*) was built between 1772 and 1774 for Louis XV, designed b… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: fr.wikipedia.org
FAQ
What overlooked corners are worth seeing inside Palace of Versailles?
Ambassadors' Staircase, Museum of the History of France, Crusades Rooms and more — 37 spots in all, each with sources and a guide in your language to read or listen to on the spot.
Is the Palace of Versailles guide free?
The first 5 spots are free to read; the other 32 unlock with a one-time purchase (not a subscription).