Welcome to the Chateau de Versailles!
The building of the palace of Versailles began in 1669, when King Louis XIV moved from the city of Paris. The castle itself underwent several building campaigns which made it the enormous building and gardens it is today. A cost estimate of the castle today puts it's value in the neighborhood of $300 billion dollars due to the ornate nature of it's interior which includes a lot of real silver and gold. The palace is famous for many reasons, including the place where the treaty of the same name was signed, The Treaty of Versailles which ended the first World War. The promotion of the castle as a tourist destination began in the 1930's, and in the 1960's Pierre Verlet a great writer on the history of French furniture had the royal apartments refurnished with the actual royal furniture that tourists can view today.
References: Wikipedia image: Harpagornis
Visiting the Palace
The palace and gardens are open daily from 9:00am to 5:00pm with a later closing time in the summer. The palace offers several different ticket prices depending on your interests, but for an all inclusive pass plan on spending around 25 Euros. Plan on spending at least 3 hours at this location just to take in the highlights.
References: Official Palace of Versailles Site, Frommers
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