Selfie, Hall of Mirrors, Palace of Versailles, Versailles, Île-de-France, France

"The Hall of Mirrors (French: Grande Galerie, Galerie des Glaces, Galerie de Louis XIV) is a grand Baroque style gallery and one of the most emblematic rooms in the royal Palace of Versailles near Paris, France. The grandiose ensemble of the Hall and its adjoining salons was intended to illustrate the power of the absolutist monarch Louis XIV. Located on the ground floor of the palace's central body, it faces west towards the Palace Gardens for a complete perspective. The Hall of Mirrors has been the scene of events of great historic significance on a number of occasions.

In 1623 King Louis XIII ordered the construction of a modest two-story hunting lodge at Versailles, which he soon enlarged to a château from 1631 to 1634. His son Louis XIV declared the site his future permanent residence in 1661 and ordered the transformation into an extensive residence in several stages and on a grandiose scale. The palace was to provide ideal settings for rest and retreat but it also had to attain a new quality of representation as the future seat of Europe's greatest absolutist royal court and government of supreme authority, residence of choice for the aristocratic society and arena for elaborate state festivals and ceremonies, Europe's centre of culture, art and entertainment. During the early expansion phase Louis Le Vau added the Forecourt (1662) and the “Le Vau Envelope” (1668 to 1670), encased the old château and added two new wings in the north and south. The new wings towered over the original western building by the garden. The space in between was a terrace supported by arcades. The buildings of the “Le Vau Envelope” included the king's apartments in the north and the queen's apartments in the south.

The Hall of Mirrors was built during the third building stage between 1678 and 1684 and was to replace the large terrace, that opened towards the garden. The terrace was originally situated directly outside of the King’s and the Queen’s apartments. The terrace was, after all, considered to be a rather misplaced architectural element and exposed to the elements, that reduced its utility. Eventually it was decided to demolish it and architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart was tasked with the design development and the construction of the Mirror Hall Gallery and artist Charles Le Brun received the honor to create the interior decorative apparatus.

The garden facade of the Corps de logis was built in a straight front and essentially received its current appearance. The Hall of Mirrors is flanked at the far ends by the Salon of War (Salon de la guerre) in the north and the Salon of Peace (Salon de la paix) in the south, respectively. The Mirror Gallery connects to the two Salons, which were assigned to and incorporated into the king's apartments in the north and the queen's apartments in the south. Both Salons are accessible via the Mirror Gallery through wide opening passageways. The Hall and the two Salons were identically furnished and decorated and form a stylistic and functional unit. The exterior walls of the Salons date from the time of Le Vau's encasings of the old château and were given their current appearance after the installation of the Mirror Hall by Hardouin-Mansart.

The Hall of Mirrors is besides the Palace Chapel, completed in the early 18th century, the Court Opera and the Galerie des Batailles one of the largest rooms in the palace. It is 73 m (240 ft) long and 10.50 m (34.4 ft) deep.[8] With its height of 12.30 m (40.4 ft) it reaches to the Attic floor of the Corps de Logis. The square windows on the upper floor, which can be seen from the outside, only serve aesthetic purposes, as there are no rooms inside. The Installation of any kind of fireplaces was never contemplated as the Hall of Mirrors was too large to effectively be heated.

The Palace of Versailles (/vɛərˈsaɪ, vɜːrˈsaɪ/ vair-SY, vur-SY; French: Château de Versailles [ʃɑto d(ə) vɛʁsɑj]) was the principal royal residence of France from 1682, under Louis XIV, until the start of the French Revolution in 1789, under Louis XVI. It is located in the department of Yvelines, in the region of Île-de-France, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) southwest of the centre of Paris.

A simple hunting lodging and later a small château with a moat occupied the site until 1661, when the first work expanding the château into a palace was carried out for Louis XIV. In 1682, when the palace had become large enough, the king moved the entire royal court and the French government to Versailles. Some of the palace furniture at this time was constructed of solid silver, but in 1689 much of it was melted down to pay for the cost of war. Subsequent rulers mostly carried out interior remodeling, to meet the demands of changing taste, although Louis XV did install an opera house at the north end of the north wing for the wedding of the Dauphin and Marie Antoinette in 1770. The palace has also been a site of historical importance. The Peace of Paris (1783) was signed at Versailles, the Proclamation of the German Empire occurred in the vaunted Hall of Mirrors, and World War I was ended in the palace with the Treaty of Versailles, among many other events.

The palace is now a historical monument and UNESCO World Heritage site, notable especially for the ceremonial Hall of Mirrors, the jewel-like Royal Opera, and the royal apartments; for the more intimate royal residences, the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon located within the park; the small rustic Hameau (Hamlet) created for Marie Antoinette; and the vast Gardens of Versailles with fountains, canals, and geometric flower beds and groves, laid out by André le Nôtre. The Palace was stripped of all its furnishings after the French Revolution, but many pieces have been returned and many of the palace rooms have been restored.

In 2017 the Palace of Versailles received 7,700,000 visitors, making it the second-most visited monument in the Île-de-France region, just behind the Louvre and ahead of the Eiffel Tower.

Versailles (French pronunciation: [vɛʁsɑj]) is a city in the Yvelines département in the Île-de-France region, renowned worldwide for the Château de Versailles and the gardens of Versailles, designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Located in the western suburbs of the French capital, 17.1 km (10.6 mi) from the centre of Paris, Versailles is in the 21st century a wealthy suburb of Paris with a service-based economy and a major tourist destination as well. According to the 2008 census, the population of the city is 88,641 inhabitants, down from a peak of 94,145 in 1975.

A new town founded at the will of King Louis XIV, Versailles was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789, before becoming the cradle of the French Revolution. After having lost its status of royal city, it became the préfecture (regional capital) of the Seine-et-Oise département in 1790, then of Yvelines in 1968. It is also a Roman Catholic diocese.

Versailles is historically known for numerous treaties such as the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolution, and the Treaty of Versailles, after World War I. Today, the Congress of France – the name given to the body created when both houses of the French Parliament, the National Assembly and the Senate, meet – gathers in the Château de Versailles to vote on revisions to the Constitution." - info from Wikipedia.

Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.

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Taken in: France / Île-de-France / Arrondissement de Versailles (show map)

Taken on: June 21, 2019

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