Versailles, French Republic
Region: Palace of Versailles
Theme: A Royal Château part of Versailles
Visit: September, 2017
UNESCO World Heritage Site, 1979
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The Grand Trianon is a French Baroque style château situated in the northwestern part of the Domain of Versailles in Versailles, France. It was built at the request of Louis XIV as a retreat for himself and his maîtresse-en-titre of the time, the Marquise de Montespan, and as a place where he and invited guests could take light meals away from the strict etiquette of the royal court.
This pink-marble building is a tour de force, bringing together a clearly majestic style while still offering an intimate setting. The Grand Trianon is surrounded by gardens whose innumerable flowers and groves help create an atmosphere of relaxation.
When you visit the Grand Trianon, you will succumb to the charm of the French-style gardens, with their perfect geometric forms. The quest for perfection became a kind of initiation rite, and the Sun King personally supervised the construction.
The Grand Trianon served as a refuge for Louis XIV, who could escape from the constant bustle of the court while surrounding himself with more select company. Being invited there was a privilege, an honor few courtiers received. Over the centuries, famous figures stayed there, including Napoleon.
List of Residents
- 1690–1703: Louis XIV
- 1703–1711: Louis, Grand Dauphin, son of Louis XIV
- From 1708: Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate in the Trianon-sous-Bois wing
- 1711–1712: The Duke and Duchess of Burgundy, son of the above and his wife
- 1712–1714: The Duke and Duchess of Berry, brother of the above
- 1717: Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia and his entourage
- c. 1720: Madame la Duchesse, daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan
- 1740 and 1743: Stanislas Leszczynski, former king of Poland
- 1774: Louis XV, there the week before his death
- 1810–1814: Empress Marie Louise, wife of Napoleon I
- 1830–1848: Queen Marie Amélie, wife of Louis Philippe I
It is an official residence of the President of France, used for receiving foreign dignitaries.
On our #MuseumOnTheRoad visit to the Grand Trianon we had the opportunity in the adjacent wing to have access to a temporary exhibition about Pierre le Grand (Peter the Great) Russian Monarch who visited France in 1717.
A warrior and traveler monarch, Peter the Great traveled the world for nearly four decades, from the White Sea to the Caspian Sea, from Holland to Moldova, from England to Persia. He made two long trips to Western Europe, the first in 1697-1698, the second, twenty years later, in 1716-1717.
During this second trip, Pierre stayed in France for two months, from April to June 1717. Two years after the death of Louis XIV, he discovered the most populous kingdom in the West, met the young Louis the regent Philippe d’Orléans, frequents statesmen, scholars, technicians and artists. Driven by universal curiosity, Pierre visited palaces and factories, fortifications and libraries, churches and academies.
On foot or in a cab, he strolled through the streets of Paris and toured the royal houses of Île-de-France: Versailles, Trianon, Marly, Saint-Germain, Fontainebleau. Peter I and his suite acquired books, works of art, scientific instruments, which they brought back to Russia at the same time as diplomatic gifts from the French government.
The exhibition it accompanies commemorates the tercentenary of this 1717 journey, the meeting of an old kingdom and a nascent empire, a true founding act of cultural exchanges between Russia and France.
Photo-α: Facade of The Grand Trianon
Further information at: ChateauVersailles.fr/GrandTrianon | BoutiqueChateauVersailles.fr | wiki/GrandTrianon | ChateauVersailles.fr/PierreGrand
“Formerly, when a king died at Versailles the reign of his successor was immediately announced by the cry:
“The king is dead, long live the king”, in order to make it understood that despotism is immortal!
Now an entire people, moved by a sublime instinct, cried:
Long live the Republic! to teach the universe that tyranny died with the tyrant.”
Maximilien Robespierre
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