How long did it take to build Versailles? (2023)

How much would it cost to build Versailles today?

If the Palace of Versailles were built today, it would cost roughly two billion US dollars. The sheer scale of the grounds comes with a hefty price tag, with over 700 rooms, 60 staircases and 1200 fireplaces.

Louis XIII built a simple hunting lodge on the site of the Palace of Versailles in 1623 and replaced it with a small château in 1631–34. Louis XIV expanded the château into a palace in several phases from 1661 to 1715.

This cost roughly 1.1 million livres between 1684 and 1685, with construction completed in 1686.

The palace. The original residence was primarily a hunting lodge and private retreat for Louis XIII (reigned 1610–43) and his family. In 1624 the king entrusted Jacques Lemercier with the construction of a château on the site. Its walls are preserved today as the exterior facade overlooking the Marble Court.

While there was a bounty of food and drink on constant offer at Versailles, the drink of choice for King Louis XV was hot chocolate. And so, the king's favorite became everyone's favorite. The cocoa drink was a delicacy back then and was thought of as an exotic choice for the royals.

ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE. The heating and air-conditioning system is backed by geothermal energy – water at a constant temperature of 12 degrees is drawn from the water table 40 metres below the building to circulate within the heating system.

Built on swampland, Versailles was described by a visitor in 1764 as an odiferous cesspool of dead cats, urine, excrement, slaughtered pigs, standing water, and mosquitoes. Although this description is doubtless an exaggeration, it is no surprise that the 18th century marked a turning point for perfumery.

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). Other toilets are located in the basement of the Gabriel Pavilion (Entrance B) and at the end of the History Gallery.

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.

Did the Versailles house ever sell?

The Siegels listed the home for sale asking $75 million in 2011 and dropped the price to $65 million the next year. It didn't sell.

“At the end of the third season, Louis XIV has achieved absolute power, he's 46 or 47 years old, so we reached the end of the narrative arc that we had envisioned for this series.” The final episode was titled “The Legacy” and Louis referred to his own legacy repeatedly throughout the final episode.

Many of the wealthiest nobles had an hotel somewhere close ( like in the city of Versailles ) where they retreated after the day at court. There the hotel was theirs (bought or rented ) and when they organized festivities or hold their " own little court " it was up to them to pay of course.

It is headed up by Catherine Pégard, the President of the Public Establishment. The annual consolidated budget of the Public Establishment is around €100 million. Operating expenses are covered from the Establishment's own resources, notably the revenue it earns from ticket sales and its commercial activities.

Oysters, salmon, and sardines were staples, as was potage—meat boiled with vegetables. According to his sister-in-law, the Princess Palatine, the king had an insatiable appetite.

Marie Antoinette had a very early version of the flush toilet installed in her suite of rooms! You had to send someone upstairs to open a valve for the flush, though…

But where did they stay? Most apartments consisted of a bedchamber, a cabinet and perhaps a wardrobe. The lucky ones could add a few antechambers or had rather large rooms. In this context, the servants' quarters were in the wardrobe.

You Can Now Spend the Night Inside the Palace Versailles For a Kingly $2,000 a Night. The historic site is now a hotel.

While not a huge amount of the series is filmed at Versailles in comparison to what viewers might think, it's worth noting that plenty of the series was still shot there. After all, bedrooms, staterooms, and of course, the extensive gardens, were all used as a backdrop for many of the scenes from the Versailles series.

Can you sleep at Versailles Palace?

You can even stay at the Palace of Versailles when you book a room or suite in the magnificent 5-star Airelles Château de Versailles Le Grand Contrôle luxury resort located in a fully renovated historic building on the Estate's grounds.

King Louis XIV (1638-1715) was terrified of bathing; he's said to have taken only three baths in his life. That fear was shared by the noblility in the 17^th Century – it ws thought that was thought that water spread disease (so the less you bathed, the less vulnerable you were).

The legendary Palace of Versailles began as a hunting lodge in 1624. After more than a century and a half of building, which included some of the most impressive construction campaigns in the world's history, toilets were added in the 18th Century.

Pears, apples, figs and grapes were served alongside oranges, as were nuts, pistachios, almonds and chestnuts. Fruit was cooked into compotes, marmalades, candied fruit sweets and pies.

Louis XIV, a 17th-century king of France, is said to have only taken three baths in his entire life. Both rich and poor might wash their faces and hands on a daily or weekly basis, but almost no one in western Europe washed their whole body with any regularity, says Ward.

Fourteen hydraulic wheels—each 33 feet in diameter—worked with 251 suction and treading pumps to push water uphill along a set of pipes and two other pumping stations to the Tour de Levant, the first of two towers anchoring the Louveciennes Aqueduct on each end.

So far, the TV series isn't doing “wig” wigs — most of the male actors are wearing wigs meant to look like their natural hair. Series costume designer Madeline Fontaine told WWD, “Louis XIV had thick hair. When he started losing it, he wore wigs scattered with his real hair.

France is a Republic, and there's no current royal family recognized by the French state. Still, there are thousands of French citizens who have titles and can trace their lineage back to the French Royal Family and nobility.

Since the French Third Republic on September 4, 1870 the French nobility is no longer recognized and has no legal existence and status. The former regularly transmitted authentic titles can however be recognized as part of a name, after a request to the Department of Justice.

An unmissable cultural monument in France and former home to its kings, the Château de Versailles is under constant renovation. While its construction was completed in 1682 under the reign of Louis XIV, restoration projects have been necessary for historic rooms in the château. Today, it's open to the public again.

Who is the richest royal ever?

Rishi Sunak will become the wealthiest ever prime minister of the U.K., with his family's personal fortune surpassing even that of the royals.

JACKIE Siegel, otherwise known as the "Queen of Versailles", has finally revealed when she will be moving into her infamous $100 million mega-mansion almost 20 years after the build first began.

The Petit Trianon

The building has a basement, main floor and attic storey, but the basement is properly visible only on the side facing the botanical garden , leaving the salons themselves at courtyard level.

In the case of Versailles, it's a series grounded in broader historical truths, but one in which chronology has been manipulated and key characters invented so as to produce a stronger narrative. When events are debated by historians, it understandably dramatises the raciest interpretation of those contested events.

It is called Triatoma infestans and very ugly. I never have heard of such a thing before, but @hoechlirn did and hopped into my Twitter messages to tell me. Merci for that. Triatoma infestans are commonly called kissing bug or barber bug in English and little blood-suckers.

Louis XVI died at the guillotine on 21 January 1793. He was the last king to live at the Palace of Versailles, and the revolutionaries duly gave him the nickname “Louis the Last”.

Most nobles' wealth derived from one or more estates, large or small, that might include fields, pasture, orchards, timberland, hunting grounds, streams, etc. It also included infrastructure such as castle, well and mill to which local peasants were allowed some access, although often at a price.

Life in Versailles Palace seems luxurious; the royal family had the best doctors at their disposal, swapped clothes several times a day and ate the most exclusive dishes. The king kept several mistresses on after, had a lot of children and lived in a beautiful palace with proverbial spacious gardens.

Versailles, which is capable of holding up to 20,000 people, has 700 rooms, more than 2,000 windows, 1,250 chimneys, and 67 staircases. Not only did the immediate royal family reside there, but the palace also housed many members of the French nobility, as well as all official government offices.

How much did it cost to live at Versailles?

To tour the inside of the palace thoroughly, it takes around 2-3 hours. Allow longer if you want to explore the gardens.

Buckingham Palace is bigger, boasting 77,000m². Versailles has just over 63,000m², however the domain of Versailles extends far beyond the palace walls.

Palace of Versailles, France is valued at $50.7 billion. Land is $5,000 per square meter in Versailles, so the land alone is $40.7 billion. The building itself and contents are likely to worth another $10 billion, so the Palace of Versailles could in all likelihood be valued at $50.7 billion.

Dividing walls were built, mezzanines created and from 103 apartments in 1684, the building contained 220 by 1722. Thus, when Louis XV returned to Versailles, nearly 1,500 people lived in the building, not counting the non-resident staff who came to work there every day.

For 2022, new castle construction costs range from $325/sq ft to $600/sq ft for a complete finished castle.

Versailles is an 90,000-square-foot (8,400 m²) house belonging to Westgate Resorts founder David Siegel and his wife Jackie.

There is still a lot of work to be done, but Siegel is hopeful that the project will be finished next year. “My goal right now is to have it finished for my husband's birthday. His birthday is May 3, 2023. So that's my goal to really have the house finished [by then].”

About The Film

The Queen of Versailles is a character-driven documentary about a billionaire family and their financial challenges in the wake of the economic crisis.

It's no secret that one of the reasons why there are so many 'bargain' châteaux are the exorbitant renovation costs and the relentless maintenance required. Structurally renovating a château could set you back an average of €1,000 per square metre.

Why are castles not built anymore?

After the 16th century, castles declined as a mode of defense, mostly because of the invention and improvement of heavy cannons and mortars. This artillery could throw heavy cannonballs with so much force that even strong curtain walls could not hold up.

The Italian federal government no longer has to deal with crumbling historic castles, the properties will be cleaned up and made available to tourists, and lucky entrepreneurs and local governments can reap the profits.

Celebrity Net Worth estimates Jackie's net worth to be of $50 million. But according to the same site, Jackie's husband, businessman David Siegel, is estimated to have an impressive fortune of $500 million.

Celebrity Net Worth estimates Jackie's net worth to be of $50 million. But according to the same site, Jackie's husband, businessman David Siegel, is estimated to have an impressive fortune of $500 million.

Jackie tells TMZ ... the hurricane destroyed her 90,000-square-foot Versailles mansion, which has infamously been under construction in the Orlando area since 2004. She's expecting even more setbacks now, as Jackie says the storm did north of $10 million worth of damage.

Queen Elizabeth II's Net Worth

This encompasses $10 billion worth of real estate, Buckingham Palace, and the Royal Art collection. The Queen also receives an annual government stipend and because this wealth is tied to her position, she could never sell the royal assets.

Jackie Siegel's face turned into an even bigger disaster than her nightmare of a mansion -- featured in the famous "Queen of Versailles" documentary -- when she suffered a major allergic reaction to a laser treatment.