Many historians believe that the fatal error of the French royal family was to agree to leave Versailles in October 1789 and return to Paris, leading in time to the execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Probably their last glimpse of the royal palace was its famous golden gate, torn down during the French Revolution but now finally replaced.
The gate was originally designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in the 1680s, some of whose notes and sketches survive. After painstaking research led by Frédéric Didier, chief architect of French historical monuments, a 15-ton replica was created at a cost of 5 million Euros, mostly provided by private donors.
A small army of craftsmen, including wrought iron workers, sculptors, gilders and ornament makers, worked for more than two years on the task. The royal gate, which stands at the entrance to the Cour d’Honneur, the king’s inner sanctum, is 80 metres long and required 100,000 sheets of gold leaf to decorate it.
A great deal of work remains to be done to return the palace fully to how it looked in 1789. The façade facing the great gardens is next to be restored, followed by the paving slabs in the royal court and the roof of the marble court. The fountains will be made much more powerful, thanks to an entirely new water supply.
www.chateauversailles.fr
From our October 2008 e-newsletter
