You have to imagine a child there.
Or rather several, who succeeded one another in the middle of this unique decor, a masterpiece of Rococo, this style very popular under the Regency and under the reign of Louis XV.
You have to imagine waking up in the privacy of the royal family, with this breathtaking view of the row of gardens and the Swiss pond, at the very bottom.
This Friday, April 1, after several years of closure and eighteen months of work, the Dauphin's apartment will once again be open to the public*, in the heart of the Palace of Versailles (Yvelines).
A major heritage restoration, supported by two sponsors: the Baron Philippe de Rothschild company and the Friends of Versailles company.
Catherine Pgard is the President of the Public Establishment of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles.
“Today, we push open a new door, which has been closed for a long time.
Proof that at Versailles, we have never seen everything!
“, she underlined at the beginning of the week, during a visit organized for the press.
A (huge) three-room apartment on the ground floor…
Located on the ground floor, the Dauphin's apartment, one of the most prestigious in the former royal residence, is a three-room apartment, so to speak.
It is stunning.
A bedroom, a library and a "Grand cabinet", which served as a reception room and study room intended to perfect the erudition of the heirs to the throne of France.
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The work which has just been completed has sought to restore the atmosphere in which the Dauphin's apartment was bathed in 1747, that is to say when Louis-Ferdinand, son of Louis XV, settled there.
The eldest son of Louis XIV, known as "the Grand Dauphin", and the regent Philippe d'Orléans had lived there before him.
The last, the Dauphin Louis-Charles, moved there during the summer of 1789 at the age of 4, after the death of his brother Louis-Joseph-Xavier.
Transformed into a museum under Louis-Philippe
Between 1830 and 1837, the Dauphin's apartment housed a museum of the history of France dear to Louis-Philippe.
This development has considerably changed the decor.
A first restoration started in the 1980s had given it back part of its “Ancien regime” aspect.
The work that has just been completed constitutes the final touch.
A specialist works in the Dauphin's library.
DR
"This campaign has allowed the apartment to regain its perfection", summarizes Catherine Pgard.
Thanks to these works, the Palace of Versailles can finally offer visitors the entire ground floor, since the apartment of the Dauphine, reserved for the daughters of Louis XV and located in the extension, had also benefited from a restoration, completed in 2019.
In the Dauphin's apartment, the work mainly concerned the paneling and the repainting of the existing decorations.
Work also focused on the fireplace in the Grand Cabinet, one of whose bronze ornaments was missing.
It was returned after the realization of a clay modelling.
The Dauphin's apartment is open for free visit.
Every day, except Monday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Info.
on
www.chateauversailles.fr