After a period of building lasting
ten years it was consecrated in the year 1710. The exquisite white
stone edifice is still regarded as an architectural gem. Its interior
embellishments were carried out by some of the best artists of the Sun
King's epoch. Here during the last years of his long and spectacular
reign, Louis the Great worshiped. Here Marie Antoinette was married to
the Sixteenth Louis.
Arrivals at the palace were admitted from the Place d'Armes to the
court designated for their reception. Only the King and his family
might enter by the central gate. Nobles passed through the gates at
the side. Privileged persons were permitted to alight in the Royal
Court; those of inferior prestige in the Court of the Ministers, which
gave entrance to the offices and living quarters of the palace
executives and the hundreds of minions composing the King's retinue.
On the left of the enclosure called the Marble Court was the vestibule
to the Marble Stairway; opposite was the doorway leading to the
renowned Stairway of the Ambassadors, later removed by command of Louis
XV. The royal suites, except those of the Dauphin and his attendants,
were on the second floor. These rooms beneath the ornate Mansard attic
were the scene of all the potent events and ceremonies that have
distinguished Versailles above the palaces of the world.
Grouped above the Marble Court at the far end of the main court of the
chateau, were the State Apartments of the King.
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