Versailles the town was begun in the 17th century to accompany the ever-expanding palace on the Place d'Armes. It was to be a new type of city, by order of the King, no less, with a symmetrical layout across its main thoroughfare, the Avenue de Paris. |
With land being literally given away by a royal decree designed to spur growth, grand churches and aristocratic mansions soon sprang up along the broad, tree-lined avenues, giving France a new centre of prosperity, and, until 1715, a new capital as well. Versailles' street plan, whose manifestation was envisaged completely by Louis XIV, is as ordered and geometrically precise as the gardens on the opposite side of the Chateau. In fact, so pragmatic was the design of this French palace, it was adopted as the staple for a number emerging settlements. |
So, what's to bring you here today besides the palace? Well, the bourgeois atmosphere remains - it's now one of the wealthiest and most fashionable Parisian suburbs - and there are plenty of high-class antique stores and bric-a-brac markets to peruse, especially in the Notre Dame quarter. Other attractions include the cathedral in the old town, the Lambinet Museum, which tells the town's fascinating history in full, and the restored Montansier Theatre, once the highest-attended theatre in France. |
