CASTLES OF THE WORLD

VERSAILLES, France

One of the most visited monuments in France, amongst the three most visited, is the Palace of Versailles. Wanting to escape the busy life in Paris, and to keep the nobility under his control, Louis XIV built this chateau in which he set up home and installed the government. Louis Le Vau was commissioned to renovate and extend an old hunting lodge, Le Notre created the gardens from swamp land, and Mansart masterminded the hydraulic display of the fountains.
Beginning in 1664, the construction of the château lasted viltually until Louis XlV's death in 1715. the Palace of Versailles was never meant to be a home; kings were not homely people. Second only to God, and the head of an immensely powerful state, Louis XIV was an institution rather than a private individual. His instability, comings and goings, were minutely regulated and rigidly encased in cere- mony, attendance at which was an honour much sought after by courtiers. Versailles was the headquarters of every arm of the state.


After the death of Louis XlV, the château was abandoned for a few years. Then Louis XV moved in in 1722. It remained the residence of the royal family until the Revolution of 1789, and at this time the furniture was sold and the pictures dispatched to the Louvre. Thereafter it fell into ruin and was nearly demolished by Louis- Philippe.
And in 1871, during the Paris Commune, it became the seat of the nationalist government, and the French parliament continued to meet in Louis XV's opera building until 1879. The restoration only began between the two world wars.
The many buildings attached to the chateau form a small town. The whole complex is a magnificent monument. The garden facade is 575 metres long with various annexes dotted here and there in a park which is several kilometres in both length and breadth. The park shows the skill of Le Notre in making good use of the natural resources on the site.

CHAMBORD, France

The Chateau of Chambord in one of the loveliest Renaissance buildings in the Valley of the Loire. Chambord, château, park, and village in the department of Loire-et-Cher in central France. The château of Chambord was a retreat for French kings, especially Louis XIV It was under his auspices that French dramatist Molière's Monsieur de Pourceaugnac and Le bourgeois Gentilhomme were first produced there.

Building of the château was begun by Francis I in 1519, and was completed in 1547. Florentine artist Leonardo da Vinci paid a short visit to the building during its construction and added a few embellishments to it. The structure, containing 440 rooms, 365 fireplace, 13 great staircases, and stables to accommodate 1200 horses, stands in a park surrounded by a wall of 22 miles in circumference. 1800 men worked on the chateau.
The archives offers us no information as to the name of the architect but an analysis of the structure reveals a profound influence of Leonardo's thought and a extremely close tie to some of the projects by Domenico da Cortona, and Italian architect.
Te staircase is related to a project by Leonardo which consisted of four distinct superimposed flights of stairs, in order words, just as many stairs as quarters and arms of the cross of the castle. It is therefore likely that Leonardo da Vinci staircase, which may have been conceived for Chambord, was then simplified when it was built by the master masons of the building yard.

The archives offer us no information as the name of the architect but there is influence of Leonardo de Vinci and close tie to some of the projects by Domenico da Cartona , and Italian architect. The spiral staircase derives from a medieval concept. it goes far beyond it in its unique division into two separate flights with numerous openings on the arms of the corridors. A tribute to the former medieval French tradition is to be found in the presence of powerful cylindrical towers at the corners of the keep. The top of the stairs leads to the large terraces of the castle.

After Francis I death in 1574 the castle was practically unused for about fifty years. After having passed through other hands, the chateau risked being demolished after the Revolution and in 1793 the furnishings were dispersed. In 1947 the State began restorations which were continued for 30 years.