From the Grand Perspective of the Palace of Versailles, it shines brightly. After a year of restoration, Apollo's chariot has regained all its flamboyance and will come alive again as in the time of Louis XIV with splashes and spurts of water. Its refilling, which takes place this Friday March 29 in the morning, marks the launch of the new season of Grandes Eaux Musicales.
For a little over a year, the basin had been empty of its occupants. Apollo and the twelve monumental sculptures which accompany him - four horses, four tritons and four dolphins -, created between 1668 and 1670 by Jean-Baptiste Tuby, "the French Michelangelo", had deserted the basin to regain their beauty in the workshops of the Coubertin foundation, in Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse. In mid-February, this 30-ton lead ensemble, completely consolidated and gilded with 35,000 gold leaves, returned to its setting between the green carpet and the Grand Canal.
The castle's fountain makers then carried out meticulous work on the shapes and orientations of the different jets in order to reproduce the richness of the varied water effects of the 17th century. For this, they based themselves on the description provided by Claude Denis, fountain manager to the king in 1692.
3 million visitors last year
To baroque music, signed by the greatest composers of the time, Lully, Handel, Charpentier... the horses will once again gallop guided by a fiery Apollo, offering every weekend to thousands of tourists, all the magic and magnificence of Versailles, as it was 350 years ago.
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Last year, 3 million tourists discovered the 55 fountains and pools nestled in exceptionally open groves and their 600 water features, whether during the Musical Shows or the Nocturnal Shows which will begin this year on June 8.
Grandes Eaux Musicales: every Saturday and Sunday from March 30 to October 27, 2024. Every Tuesday from May 7 to June 25, 2024. Price: 10.50 euros, reduced: 9 euros.