VERSAILLES, capital of the department of Seine-et-Oise in France, is situated in 48' 47' 56" W. lat., 2° 7' 39' E. long., 11 miles by rail way W. from Paris, and had 29,975 inhabitants in the commune at the census of 1851.
Versailles was a mere village in the time of Louis XIII., who in 1627 built here a small bunting neat, which Louis XIV. converted, by his vast and expensive additions (1661-1672), into the most magnificent palace then in Europe. Under this prince and his successors Louis XV. and XVI. Versailles was the ordinary residence of the court, and the village of Versailles grew into a handsome city with above 70,000 inhabitants.
The town is divided into two nearly equal parts by a noble avenue nearly half a mile long and nearly 800 feet broad, running east and west, planted with four rows of elms, forming three alleys. The road from l'aris, of which this avenue forms part, enters the town on the east, immediately opposite to the palace. Before tho bend nt the entrance of the Avenue of Paris, the road passes between the villages of Grand Montreuil on the right and Petit llontreuil on the left: those villages are now regarded as suburbs of Versailles. Versailles itself is divided by the Avenue into the Quarter of St.-Louis on the south side, and the Quarter of Notre-Dame on the north side. The quarters are named after the parish churches which they respectively contain : the two part. are equally modern, and consist of straight well-built streets crooning each other at right angles.
Besides the Avenue of Paris, two other avenues (those of St.-Cloud and Sceaux) converge to the Place-d'Armes, or parade-ground, which is immediately in front of the court of the palace. These avenues are all planted with fine elms, and lined with pleasant residences. 'Resides these avenues there are in the Quartier Notre-Dame three boulevards, all planted with flue elms, and bordered with neat houses and other building& Of the Places, or squares, the Place-d'Arnies is the largest; the Place-lloche (adorned with a statue of the general from whom it is named), formerly the Place-Dauphin, is the hand somest. There are two market-places, and a number of fountains.
The town front of the palace conalats of a centre end two wiuga, inclosing three sides of a court, which is open on its fourth or east side towards the Plaead'Armes. The central and principal part of
the palace of Louis XIV. also forms three sides of n quadrangle, and fronts the gardens. It presents three fronts to the gardens, namely, the principal front and two side-fronts, and is in advance of the rest of the building; the wings, which havo the same general direction as the principal front of the central building (namely north and south), are thrown back about 250 or 260 feet, which is the extent of the two side-fronts of the central portion. The whole extent of the garden front is above 1900 feet. This front is in the estimation of many persons one of the grandest and most beautiful in existence. It is adorned with Iouic columns, 86 in number, arranged iu 15 colonnades of 4, 6, or 8 columns, each colonnade supporting ? cornice crowned with Its many statues as there are columns ; end if the northern face or extremity of the north wing, and the southern face of the south wing, be included, the number of columns will be augmented to 102. The spaces between the colonnades are adorned with pilasters, or with columns engaged in the wall ; and the attic has dwarf pilasters throughout, and is surmounted by a balustrade. Niches immediately behind some of the intereolumns are occupied by statues. This palace was built from the designs of J. H. Mansard.
Immediately in front of the palace, on the west aide, is the garden or little park, an irregular polygon about 3 miles long from the palace to its western extremity, and about 2 miles broad. It is included in the limits of the great park, which is estimated to be from 20 to 25 miles in circuit. The garden was laid out by Le Notre in terracea, parterres, and alleys, adorned with a profusion of statues, vases, and other sculptures; with a camsl in the shape of a cross, and other pieces of water ; and a number of fountains, which are supplied with water from thu Seine by the forcing-pump (substituted for the former waterworks), aqueduct, and reservoirs of Marly. The fountains play on the first Sunday in the month during the summer : these exhi bilious always attract crowds of spectators from Paris. The orangery is remarkable for the number and beauty of the orange-trees which it contains.