What was the most spectacular European palace complex?

Since 1979, the Palace of Versailles has been listed as a World Heritage and is one of the greatest achievements in French 17th century art. Louis XIII's old hunting pavilion was transformed and extended by his son, Louis XIV, when he installed the Court and government there in 1682.



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While it smells fine now, hygiene practices (or the lack thereof) in France during Louis XIII's reign meant that the palace smelled like urine, fecal matter, and more. Some claim that a lack of toilets in the palace even led some visitors to relieve themselves behind curtains and pillars.

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How much would it cost to build Versailles in today's money? Versailles Palace could take anywhere between $2-300 billion to build in today's money.

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After the departure of the royal family Even though the sovereign and the court were no longer in residence, the Palace was not left to go to ruin. On the contrary, and as always during the royal family's absences, the opportunity was taken to carry out repairs.

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Beds used to be short because people didn't use to sleep lying down because old superstitions considered it to be the position of the dead. So they slept in half sitting position.

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Take a Peek Inside. We're guessing Marie Antoinette's TripAdvisor review of the Château de Versailles would have been decidedly mixed (Pastry chef: okay; security against angry mobs: subpar; verdict: two stars).

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There are several toilets and free changing tables for babies at your disposal all over the Estate. In the Palace, there are toilets and changing tables before the ticket checks in the South Ministers' Wing and after the ticket checks in the basement of the Dufour Pavilion (Entrance A).

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Gold leaf certainly features in the decoration style of the interior of Versailles. In fact, there were solid gold table services (flatware and plates) in Versailles in the eighteenth century. But the Palace of Versailles itself is not made of gold.

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It's opponent in this battle of the bucket-list biggies is no shrinking violet either: in le corner rouge (please pardon our French) is the picture-perfect palace of Versailles, a fairytale edifice of quite magical beauty, and perhaps the planet's most celebrated château.

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Rooms with toilets, cesspools, and drainage systems only started to become common in the 19th century. At the Palace of Versailles, people would conduct their business in the corridors or in the gardens. In 1715, it was decreed that once a week the feces would be collected from the corridors.

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Mesdames 1727-1800 The Mesdames lived at Versailles over a period of many years before fleeing during the French Revolution. The daughters of Louis XV all bore the honorific title of 'Madame'. There were eight princesses, not all of whom were raised at Versailles because their education was considered too expensive.

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By placing the burden of war guilt entirely on Germany, imposing harsh reparations payments and creating an increasingly unstable collection of smaller nations in Europe, the treaty would ultimately fail to resolve the underlying issues that caused war to break out in 1914, and help pave the way for another massive ...

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