France – amazing country. A centuries-old history, eventful, left her with many architectural, historical, cultural places of interest. In addition, France is rich in picturesque natural places. Its varied landscapes are literally breathtaking. World organization UNESCO has not left this country without its attention. After all, this country has added countless sites to the World Heritage List.

Versailles is palace and park ensemble, residence of the French kings. This luxurious palace, which matches the bright baroque era of the Sun King, is considered the most beautiful palace throughout Europe. Its lavishly decorated halls are truly impressive. It is also pleasant to stroll through the neatly trimmed, well-groomed regular park around the palace. That is why the place has become one of the most visited in all of France.

Located in the north-west of France, between the provinces of Normandy and Brittany granite island Mont Saint Michel. The Romanesque-Gothic monastery of the Benedictine abbey rises on it with a huge spire. The most impressive ebbs and flows in all of Europe are observed here. Once a lunar day, water can flow back several kilometers. And then, returning, he blocks the dam, which is the only road to the island.


Let's go back to the distant past, to primitive times. At that time there was no such state as France, but, nevertheless, people already lived on its territory. In the province of Languedoc, archaeologists have discovered the amazing caves of Lascaux. A large number of rock paintings were found in them. They were even nicknamed the Sistine Chapel of the primitive period. Paintings and engravings appeared here around the 18th to 15th centuries BC. Just imagine!


On the island of Corsica, which is French territory, there is National Park- calanque bays. These are rocky formations, mainly consisting of granite. Over time and under the influence of the wind, they acquired bizarre shapes. Getting to the place is extremely difficult. Can only be done by water or via mountain range. But those who had enough patience and got to the coast will definitely not regret it. It is not for nothing that local landscapes are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

France has preserved amazing monuments from the times of Roman rule. These are mainly ancient amphitheaters. There are such in the cities of Arles, Orange, Lyon.

Each year, this honor is awarded for excellence in one of seven creative areas: crafts and folk art, design, cinematography, gastronomy, literature, music and media art.

New cities included in the list include: Adelaide (South Australia) in the music category; Al Hasa ( Saudi Arabia) in the direction of arts and crafts and folk art; () for achievements in gastronomy; Detroit (USA) in the design category; Liverpool () in the direction of music; Ljubljana (Slovenia) in the literature category; Lubumbashi (Democratic Republic of the Congo) in the direction of arts and crafts and folk art; Santos (Brazil) for achievements in cinematography; in the design category and Varanasi () in the music category.

Cities usually go a long way toward being recognized by UNESCO, which involves significant society and public investment in the arts. Therefore, receiving such a high title was greeted in these cities with great joy and a sense of pride.

Minister of Art South Australia Jack Snelling was delighted that Adelaide was included in the Creative Cities Network as a 'City of Music', saying it was a great honor for the city. The city's active music community presents 950 live concerts every month, in addition to large annual music festivals, such as the world famous Womadelaide event, which attracts thousands to Adelaide every year.

Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson was also very proud to be included on the Network as a 'City of Music'. He told BBC News: "Liverpool is renowned around the world for its influence on the music industry and this status is the highest recognition of that, it is absolutely in keeping with the spirit of the city, it is the highest accolade for a city that lives and breathes music." The judges were unanimous in their decision, calling Liverpool a "musical paradise", home to festivals such as the International Music Festival, Sound City and Psych Fest. It is also worth considering the important role of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Creamfields dance music festival in the city's music industry.

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network was created in 2004 and this moment unites 116 cities.

Here is a list of 47 cities included in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network:

Adelaide (Australia) – music
Al-Ahsa (Saudi Arabia) – crafts and folk arts
Baghdad (Iraq) – literature
Bamiyan (Afghanistan) – crafts and folk arts
Bandung (Indonesia) – design
() – literature
(Brazil) – gastronomy
Bergen () – gastronomy
Bitola (former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) – cinematography
Budapest (Hungary) – design
Burgos (Spain) – gastronomy
Varanasi (India) – music
Gaziantep (Türkiye) – gastronomy
Denia (Spain) – gastronomy
Detroit (United States of America) – design
Jaipur (India) – crafts and folk arts
Duran (Ecuador) – crafts and folk arts
Idanya-a-Nova () – music
Isfahan (Iran) – crafts and folk arts
Katowice () – music
Kaunas (Lithuania) – design
Kingston (Jamaica) – music
Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo) – music
Liverpool (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) - music
Lubumbashi (Democratic Republic of Congo) – crafts and folk arts
Lviv (Ukraine) – literature
Ljubljana (Slovenia) – literature
Medellin (Colombia) – music
Montevideo (Uruguay) – literature
Nottingham (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) – literature
(Portugal) – literature
Austin (United States of America) – digital art
Parma () – gastronomy
Puebla (Mexico) – design
() – gastronomy
Rasht (Iran) – gastronomy
(Italy) – cinematography
Sazayama (Japan) – crafts and folk arts
Salvador (Brazil) – music
San Cristobal de las Casas (Mexico) – Crafts and Folk Arts
Santos (Brazil) – cinematography
Singapore (Singapore) – design
Tartu (Estonia) – literature
Tucson (United States of America) – gastronomy
Tongyeong (Republic of Korea) – music
Ulyanovsk (Russia) – literature
Ensenada (Mexico) – gastronomy

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The UNESCO heritage in France is represented by world-famous landmarks. Among architectural monuments certainly worth mentioning palace and park complex in Versailles. It is located in the suburbs French capital and is a true masterpiece. Since the reign of Louis XIV, Versailles has been the residence of royalty. It was then, in XVII century the complex was revived in a new light. The best architects and gardeners of the country worked on its construction and subsequent reconstructions. No expense was spared on the interior decoration of the palace and it turned out magnificent and magnificent. In addition to its aesthetic significance, Versailles has become an important historical site. In particular, a peace treaty was signed here, ending the First World War.

There are also unique cave drawings in caves along the Weser River. Archaeologists agreed that the approximate age of these images reaches seventeen thousand years. They were protected from water thanks to marble, which allowed the drawings to be preserved quite well. The most famous drawings are located in the Lascaux cave. They depict scenes of hunting and everyday life, as well as animals. They represent the greatest cultural value, since from them it can be determined that primitive artists even then began to use certain painting techniques. Their imagination suggested to them the principles of perspective and shading.

The UNESCO list in France also includes many ancient Roman sites. Among them, it is worth noting the ancient monuments in the city of Arles. The ancient Roman emperors loved it, which led to the active construction of various buildings and objects on its territory. The remains of the theater, underground galleries and other structures have survived to this day. In French city Orange also houses the ruins of an ancient Roman theater. It is located on the banks of the Rhone and was built by the Gauls. Apart from the theater, its territory is not worth Triumphal Arch, also built in the ancient Roman era.

Message quote World Heritage UNESCO: France. Palaces and parks of Versailles. Part 1

The UNESCO World Heritage List in the French Republic includes 37 items (as of 2011), this is 3.8% of the total (936 as of 2011). 33 objects are included in the list according to cultural criteria, and 17 of them are recognized as masterpieces of human genius (criterion i), 3 objects are included according to natural criteria, each of which is recognized natural phenomenon of exceptional beauty and aesthetic importance (criterion vii), as well as 1 mixed object, also falling under criterion vii. In addition, as of 2010, 33 sites in France are among the candidates for inclusion in the World Heritage List. French Republic ratified the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and natural heritage June 27, 1975.

UNESCO experts decided that French gastronomic culture, with its rituals and complex organization, is worthy of inclusion in the prestigious List of Intangibles cultural heritage. For the first time in the world this status was received National cuisine, which indicates “its widespread recognition.”
Experts of the Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO satisfied the request of France in the art of Alençon lace - they were included in the List of Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Food is part of the French national identity. Normandy, Provencal, Burgundian and Alsatian cuisines differ from each other as much as the inhabitants of these regions. “It must be said that French cuisine is subject to numerous influences, which allows it to create new dishes and new tastes. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this openness, especially given the characteristics of modern society,” says Hubert de Canson, Deputy Permanent Representative of France to UNESCO.

Versailles Palace and Park

Versailles is a palace and park ensemble in France (French Parc et château de Versailles), the former residence of French kings in the city of Versailles, now a suburb of Paris; center of tourism of world importance.



Versailles was built under the leadership of Louis XIV in 1661, and became a kind of monument to the era of the “Sun King”, an artistic and architectural expression of the idea of ​​absolutism. The leading architects are Louis Levo and Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the creator of the park is Andre Le Nôtre. The Versailles ensemble, the largest in Europe, is distinguished by its unique integrity of design and harmony of architectural forms and transformed landscape. Since the end of the 17th century, Versailles has served as a model for the ceremonial country residences of European monarchs and aristocracy, but there are no direct imitations of it.



From 1666 to 1789, before the Great french revolution, Versailles was the official royal residence. In 1801 it received the status of a museum and is open to the public; since 1830 the entire architectural complex Versailles; in 1837 royal palace The Museum of French History opened. In 1979, the Palace of Versailles and its park were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.


Many significant events in French and world history are associated with Versailles. So, in the 18th century royal residence became the site of the signing of many international treaties, including the treaty that ended the American Revolutionary War (1783). In 1789, the Constituent Assembly working in Versailles adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen.



Chapel_and_Gabriel_Wing_Palace_of_Versailles
Northern view



South facade. Versailles 2



In 1871, after the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War, the creation of the German Empire was proclaimed in Versailles, occupied by German troops. Here in 1919 a peace treaty was signed, ending the First world war and laid the foundation for the so-called Versailles system - political system post-war international relations



View of the palace from the park


Versailles_-zicht_op_de_Écuries
The history of the Palace of Versailles begins in 1623 with a very modest hunting castle, similar to a feudal one, built at the request of Louis XIII from brick, stone and slate roofing on the territory purchased from Jean de Soisy, whose family owned the lands since the 14th century. The hunting castle was located in the place where the marble courtyard is now located. Its dimensions were 24 by 6 meters. In 1632, the territory was expanded through the purchase of the Versailles estate from the Archbishop of Paris from the Gondi family, and a two-year reconstruction was undertaken.




La Victoire sur l"Espagne Marcy Girardon Versailles

Louis XIV

Since 1661, the “Sun King” Louis XIV began to expand the palace in order to use it as his permanent residence, since after the Fronde uprising, living in the Louvre seemed unsafe to him. Architects Andre Le Nôtre and Charles Lebrun renovated and expanded the palace in the classicist style. The entire facade of the palace from the garden side occupies large gallery(Gallery of Mirrors, Gallery Louis XIV), which creates a stunning impression with its paintings, mirrors and columns. In addition to it, the Gallery of Battles, the palace chapel and the Royal Opera House also deserve mention.


Louis XV

After the death of Louis XIV in 1715, the five-year-old King Louis XV, his court, and the Council of Regency of Philippe d'Orléans returned to Paris. Russian Tsar Peter I, during his visit to France, stayed in May 1717 in the Grand Trianon. The 44-year-old Tsar, while in Versailles, studied the structure of the Palace and parks, which served as a source of inspiration for him when creating Peterhof on the shore Gulf of Finland near St. Petersburg (Verlet, 1985).



Versailles changed during the reign of Louis XV, but not as much as it did under Louis XIV. In 1722, the king and his court returned to Versailles and the first project was the completion of the Salon of Hercules, the construction of which began in last years the reign of Louis XIV, but due to the death of the latter it was not completed.



The Little Apartments of the King are recognized as a significant contribution of Louis XV to the development of Versailles; Chambers of Madame, Chambers of the Dauphin and his wife on the first floor of the Palace; as well as the personal chambers of Louis XV - the King's small apartments on the second floor (later rebuilt into Madame DuBarry's apartments) and the King's small apartments on the third floor - on the second and third floors of the Palace. The main achievement of Louis XV in the development of Versailles was the completion of the construction of the Opera Hall and the Petit Trianon Palace (Verlet, 1985).



Petit Trianon, palace


Small apartments of the king. Cabinet of golden service



Gaming salon of Louis 16th



Madame DuBarry
An equally significant contribution is the destruction of the Ambassadors' Staircase, the only ceremonial route to the Great Royal Apartments. This was done to build apartments for the daughters of Louis XV.


One of the gates





Inviolability of power. French royal court.


In the decoration of the gate there are symbols of the “sun” king



Golden Gate.



Palace of Versailles; Saint Leu stone,



There have been no significant changes in the Park compared to the times of Louis XIV; Louis XV's only legacy to the parks of Versailles is the completion of the Basin of Neptune between 1738 and 1741 (Verlet, 1985). In the last years of his reign, Louis XV, on the advice of the architect Gabriel, began reconstructing the facades of the courtyards of the Palace. According to another project, the Palace was to receive classical facades from the city side. This project of Louis XV also continued throughout the reign of Louis XVI, and was only completed in the twentieth century (Verlet, 1985).



Hall of Mirrors



All accounts related to the construction of the palace have survived to this day. The amount taking into account all expenses is 25,725,836 livres (1 livre corresponded to 409 g of silver), which in total amounted to 10,500 tons of silver or 456 million guilders for 243 g of silver / Conversion to modern value is practically impossible. Based on the price of silver at 250 euros per kg, the construction of the palace absorbed 2.6 billion euros / Based on the purchasing power of the then guilder as 80 euros, the construction cost 37 billion euros. Putting the cost of building the palace in relation to the state budget of France in the 17th century, the modern sum is 259.56 billion euros.



Palace facade. Clock of Louis 14.
Almost half of this amount was spent on creating interior decoration. The best masters of the era Jacob, Jean Joseph Chapuis created luxurious boiserie. [source not specified 859 days] These expenses were spread over 50 years, during which the construction of the Palace of Versailles, completed in 1710, took place.


Emperor Augustus



Roman busts



The site of the future construction required a huge amount of excavation work. Recruiting workers from surrounding villages was difficult. Peasants were forced to become “builders.” To increase the number of workers on the construction of the palace, the king banned all private construction in the surrounding area. Workers were often imported from Normandy and Flanders. Almost all orders were carried out through tenders; contractors' expenses exceeding those initially named were not paid. IN peaceful times The army was also involved in the construction of the palace. Finance Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert kept an eye on frugality. The forced presence of the aristocracy at court was an additional precaution on the part of Louis XIV, who thus ensured complete control over the activities of the aristocracy. Only at court was it possible to obtain ranks or posts, and those who left lost their privileges
Fountains of Versailles

May 5, 1789 in Palace of Versailles representatives of the nobility, clergy and bourgeoisie gathered. After the king, who by law was given the right to convene and dissolve such events, closed the meeting for political reasons, the deputies from the bourgeoisie declared themselves the National Assembly and retired to the Ball House. After 1789, it was possible to maintain the Palace of Versailles only with difficulty.








Architectural elements of the palace decoration
On October 5-6, 1789, first a crowd from the Parisian suburbs, and then the National Guard under the command of Lafayette, came to Versailles demanding that the king and his family, as well as the National Assembly, move to Paris. Submitting to forceful pressure, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, their relatives and deputies moved to the capital. After this, the importance of Versailles as the administrative and political center of France decreased and was not subsequently restored.
Since the time of Louis Philippe, many halls and premises began to be restored, and the palace itself became an outstanding national historical museum, in which busts, portraits, battle paintings and other works of art, mainly of historical value, were exhibited.



Proclamation of the German Empire in 1871



The Palace of Versailles was of great importance in German-French history. After the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War, it was the residence of the main headquarters from October 5, 1870 to March 13, 1871 German army. On January 18, 1871, the German Empire was proclaimed in the Gallery of Mirrors, and its Kaiser was Wilhelm I. This place was deliberately chosen to humiliate the French.


A peace treaty with France was signed on February 26, also at Versailles. In March, the evacuated French government moved the capital from Bordeaux to Versailles, and only in 1879 again to Paris.


At the end of the First World War, a preliminary truce was concluded at the Palace of Versailles, as well as the Treaty of Versailles, which the defeated German Empire was forced to sign. This time, historical place was picked up by the French to humiliate the Germans.


The harsh conditions of the Treaty of Versailles (including huge indemnity payments and admission of sole guilt) fell heavily on the shoulders of the young Weimar Republic. Because of this, it is widely believed that the consequences of the Treaty of Versailles were the basis for the future rise of Nazism in Germany.



Marble courtyard of Versailles
After World War II, the Palace of Versailles became the site of German-French reconciliation. This is evidenced by the celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Elysee Treaty, which took place in 2003. Palace of Versailles

Born in the Palace

The following kings and members of their families were born in the Palace of Versailles: Philip V (King of Spain), Louis XV, Louis XVI,
Many palaces in Europe were built under the undoubted influence of Versailles. These include the castles of Sanssouci in Potsdam, Schönbrunn in Vienna, Great palaces in Peterhof, the Rapti Estate in Luga, Gatchina and Rundale (Latvia), as well as other palaces in Germany, Austria and Italy.

Palace interiors
Busts and sculptures


Bust of Louis XIV by Gianlorenzo Bernini





Busts in the Hall of Mirrors


Buste de Louis XV, Jean-Baptiste II Lemoyne (1749), apartments of the Dauphin, Louis 15


Madame Clotilde



Buste de Charles X, 1825, François-Joseph Bosio







Marie Antoinette


François Paul Brueys


Mirror gallery













Salle des croisades






Sleeping Ariadne



Escalier Gabriel



Petit_appartment_du_roi



Ceiling of the lobby


Entrance from the lobby


Lobby


Salle des gardes de la reine


Salon Louis 14, medallion depicting a Roman legionnaire

Salon de Venus, Louis XIV en empereur romain, Jean Varin


Coat of arms of Louis Phillipe
Paintings


Reception of the Persian ambassadors by Louis XIV, COYPEL Antoine


Creator:Claude Guy Hallé (Français, 1652-1736)

Louis 14, author unknown


The Sun King, Jean-Léon Gérôme (Français, 1824-1904)


Ambassador Ladder Model


Staircase.ambassadors





lobby decor,

Marie Josephine of Saxony and the Count of Burgundy, Maurice Quentin de Latour (author)

La remise de l "Ordre du Saint-Esprit, Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743)
Apartment Louis 14






Apartments Dauphin

Allegories, ceiling paintings,







The birth of the Duke of Burgundy at Versailles on 6 August 1682 by Antoine Dieu



Royal bedchamber in gold.









Blue office


Chambers in the Grand Trianon



Marie Antoinette


Bed Madame Pompadour


Napoleon's chambers
Palace decor

Angels, ceiling of the reception room


Mirror gallery


Coat of arms of Louis 14
Chandeliers and candelabra










Dining rooms and fireplaces

Porcelain

Josse-François-Joseph Leriche, Queen's toilet

Coyau