The Latona Fountain

Once you're in the gardens, and once you've passed the great stairs, you'll see the Latona fountain. It is one of the most interesting of them all.

Latona fountain, as seen from the stairs (photo RMN)

If you're familiar with Greek and Roman mythology, you might know the story behind this sculputre. On top, we can see a woman, Latona, with two children at her feet. These two are Apollo and Diane the twin gods Latona had with Jupiter. Juno, Jupiter's wife, forced her to exile in Minor Asia. When she arrived, Latona was rejected by the local peasants, who hated her, obeying Juno's orders. Latona implored Jupiter to help her and their children, the all-mighty god transform all of the peasants into frogs and toads. We can see the peasants under Latona here, some of them are completely transformed, but some are still half human-half toad.

This magnificient sculpture was made by the Marsy brothers, who worked almost all their life to work in Versailles for Louis XIV.

Currently, the fountain is in restoration, and to compensate, the Palace made several videos, explaining why this restoration was necessary to the fountain. You can watch more on their YouTube channel.

They also put a website online, to follow the restoration works: http://latone.chateauversailles.fr/

Hall of Mirrors

The most famous hall in the World, where there is the most people during the visiting day:
 the Hall Of Mirrors.

The Hall of Mirrors on a Monday, closing day at Versailles (photo by me)

When Louis XIV, the sun-king, build the Palace, on the same place where stood decades before his father’s hunting mansion, there was no Hall of Mirrors. Instead, a very large terrace that offerred the perfect view, with the perfect perspective on the gardens was built. But in Versailles, winters can be dificult and very long, so in 1678, the king decided to built a large hall that will connect his appartments to the queen’s ones

To keep a great view on the garden’s perspective, he invited the best mirror makers from Venice to create mirrors that would match the windows, giving the impression that the room was enlarged by them.

The king asked his first painter, Charles Le Brun, to decore the ceilings, with paintings dedicated to his own military victories against the others European nations.

'La puissance victorieuse du roi' by Charles Le Brun (photo RMN)

This hall was sometimes used as a ballroom, for parties and receptions, but was mostly used as a passage between the king's and the queen's appartements, linking the two most important part of the Palace.