Trump signs at Versailles: 400 years of history, 65,000 m² and 600 fountains -

In 1623, Louis XIII had a hunting lodge built 20 km from Paris. In 1661, Louis XIV decided to erect the largest palace in the world there. Construction lasted 38 years, employing up to 36,000 workers simultaneously.

Construction cost

Historian François Bluche estimated that the cost of the Versailles building works amounted to around 3% of the State’s annual expenditure over a period of 50 years.
Some estimates, not supported by official sources, place the equivalent cost at between €170 billion and €250 billion in today’s money.

The Palace

63,154 m² of total floor area
2,300 rooms, including 1,000 museum rooms
2,153 windows
352 fireplaces
67 staircases
18,000 m² of glass surfaces
570 m of garden-side façade
13 hectares of roofing
5,000 people lived there at its peak

Hall of Mirrors

73 m long, 11 m wide, 12 m high
357 mirrors across 17 arches
Built from 1678 to 1684

Gardens and park

817 hectares in total, including 300 hectares of woodland
77 hectares for the Gardens alone, divided into 16 groves
432 hectares of Grand Park
23 hectares for the Grand Canal
Grand Canal: 1,675 m long, 62 m wide, built from 1668 to 1679
55 ponds, including the Swiss Water Feature, which covers 14 hectares
600 fountains
35 km of pipes supplying the fountains and water jets
43 km of pathways
20 km of enclosure walls
350,000 trees planted
300,000 flowers planted each year
The Orangery: 5,275 m2, 1,600 trees
372 statues in the park
70 fountain technicians oversee the water system
40 km of hornbeam hedges

Collections

72,283 works of art in total, including
– 6,207 paintings
– and 3,741 sculptures

Operations

In 2024, the revenue side of the budget consisted of:
– €114 million in own resources, including €86.5 million from ticket sales;
– €62 million in public subsidies.

Staff:
863 permanent employees (2024), including:
– 15 heritage curators,
– 60 gardeners and surveillance staff,
– 500 security officers.

Tourism