Archaeological excavations at the Palace of Versailles have revealed the complex architectural evolution of the Queen\u2019s and Dauphin\u2019s Courts.<\/p>\n
The Palace of Versailles was commissioned by King Louis XIV, in Versailles, west of the city centre of Paris, France. Initially a ch\u00e2teau used as a hunting lodge, Louis XIV redeveloped the site into a royal palace over several expansion phases from 1661 to 1715.<\/p>\n
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Louis XIV\u2019s successors, Louis XV and Louis XVI, largely left Versailles as they inherited it and focused mainly on the palace\u2019s interiors.<\/p>\n
Recent excavations of the central southern wing of the palace have unearthed traces of the filled moat of architect Louis Le Vau\u2019s 17th-century hunting lodge, as well as an intricate network of long-buried structures.<\/p>\n
These structures include the foundations of colonnaded galleries, stone drainage systems, vaulted hydraulic passages, monumental water collectors, and semicircular vaults dating from the late 1600s.<\/p>\n
Archaeologists from Inrap report that the density of these structures will make it possible to reconstruct the architectural evolution of this area of the palace by following a chronological timeline.<\/p>\n
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In another section of the same wing, traces of the \u201cLe Vau Wall\u201d were uncovered, the original garden-facing facade, along with ceramic fragments associated with early royal occupation, including pieces of imported Chinese porcelain.<\/p>\n
Excavations also found the remnants of a large circular basin that once stood at the centre of the original Great Courtyard between 1668 and 1690. The basin space was later divided by the addition of a new pavilion extending the Queen\u2019s apartments.<\/p>\n
In the area of the North Terrace, archaeologists unearthed filled hollow structures containing sculptural fragments and pits containing mother-of-pearl and shell debris, believed to be refuse from the demolition of the famed Tethys Grotto, which once occupied the site before the construction of the North Wing in 1685.<\/p>\n
A small, vaulted sump and other hydraulic features further indicate the sophisticated water-management systems that once served the palace\u2019s fountains and gardens.<\/p>\n
Perhaps most striking was the discovery of a 17-metre-long foundation wall composed of reused baluster stones, likely salvaged from an earlier railing or staircase. Though initially suspected to come from the demolished grotto, current analysis suggests a different origin.<\/p>\n
The wall may correspond to an 18th-century barrier shown in designs by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, separating public garden spaces from carriage routes leading to the royal apartments.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeyond its good state of preservation, the combined interventions clearly demonstrate the stratigraphic complexity of the preserved elements. A perpetual construction site, the site has undergone constant transformations, traces of which have been recorded in the subsoil,\u201d said Inrap.<\/p>\n
Header Image Credit : P. Raymond<\/p>\n