VERSAILLES, a town of France, situated 12 miles to the S.W. of Paris, and the chief place of the department of the Seine and Oise. From hav ing been so long the residence of the court, Ver sailles is one of the most elegant towns in France. Its squares and market places are large and elegant, and its streets, which intersect each other at right angles, are clean and spacious. The avenues lead ing to the palace divides the town into two parts, the one to the left being called the old, and the other the new town, in which are situated the prin cipal church and the handsomest buildings. Ver sailles has a cathedral and eight churches, a high school, a library, a cabinet of natural history, and a botanic garden. The following is an account of the palace and gardens, Scc. as they were in 1814.
" The palace itself, when viewed from the west, consists of a centre and two wings. The central building is composed of three sides of a square, the square projecting iu front of the wings which are connected with it. The whole front towards the garden is 1965 feet in length. It consists of two stories and an attic, and is decorated with Ionic pilasters and columns, and adorned with numerous statues, nearly 14 feet in height, representing the four seasons, the twelve months of the year, and the arts.
" In the north wing, near its junction with the main body, stands the chapel, which was begun in 1699. When viewed from the west front, it does not appear as a separate building, excepting by the elevation of its roof, which rises higher than the palace. It is 134 feet long outside, and is decorated with 16 Corinthian columns and 22 demi-columns upon the wall, between which are 12 elegantly co loured glass windows. The marble pavement, the sculpture, and the painting renders this chapel one of the most elegant buildings of the kind in Europe. The apartments of the palace are reckoned 1532 in number; but as the whole of it was undergoing a complete repair, it was difficult to examine them with attention. Notwithstanding the scaffoldings also were placed in every apartment, the extreme richness and splendour were sufficiently visible, marble and gilding and the finest paintings being profusely lavished on every apartment. The saloon
of Hercules was particularly grand, and the great gallery, which stretches along the front side of the central square. exceeds all description. It is 288 feet long, 4 t feet broad, and 50 feet high. It is il luminated by 17 windows, with corresponding ar cades on the opposite side, and the pilasters and columns are all of marble with gilt bronze capitals and bases. At the back of the central part we were shown the balcony upon which the King and the Queen and Dauphin presented themselves to the mob during the revolution.
"On the west side of the south wing stands the orangerie, which is reckoned the finest in the world. It lies very low, and we descend to it by two noble stone staircases. There is about 1000 orange trees, and the oldest of them has the following inscription upon it: seme en 1421,' so that it is now 409 years old. The trees are all in green square boxes of wood, and each box is numbered, and has also the year in which the tree was planted or brought to the orangerie. The Serre, or apartments under the terrace into which the orange trees are put in win ter, forms three sides of a square, the other side opening by an iron railing into the piece of water of great extent. The principal side, which looks to the south, is 624 feet long, and 48 wide over the walls, which are 12 feet thick. The other side, reckoning to the extremity of the staircase, is 465 feet long.
"On the west side of the north wing is a huge basin of water, of great extent, ornamented with numerous bronze figures, and with jet d'eaus, jerbs, &c. of all kinds. Before the front of the palace, and extending to a great distance, there were numerous extensive basins of water, lined with marble, and containing jet d'eau of every variety. As the Dutehess of Angouleme happened to visit Ver sailles on the same day with us, we had the good fortune to see all these brilliant waterworks in full play.