| Grand Trianon | |
|---|---|
 The Grand Trianon in 1724 | |
 Interactive map of Grand Trianon | |
| Alternative names | Trianon de Marbre |
| General information | |
| Type | Château |
| Architectural style | French Baroque,Louis XIV Style,Neoclassical andEmpire Style |
| Location | Versailles, France |
| Construction started | 1687 |
| Completed | 1688 |
| Renovated | 1963 |
| Client | Louis XIV of France |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Red marble |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Jules Hardouin-Mansart |
TheGrand Trianon (French pronunciation:[ɡʁɑ̃tʁijanɔ̃]) is aFrench Baroque stylechâteau situated in the northwestern part of theDomain of Versailles inVersailles,France. It was built at the request ofLouis XIV as a retreat for himself and hismaîtresse-en-titre of the time, theMarquise de Montespan, and as a place where he and invited guests could take light meals (collations) away from the strictetiquette of the royal court. The Grand Trianon is set within its own park, which includes thePetit Trianon (a smaller château built in the 1760s, during the reign ofLouis XV).
Between 1663 and 1665, Louis XIV purchased thehamlet of Trianon, on the outskirts ofVersailles. In 1670, he commissioned the architectLouis Le Vau to design aporcelain pavilion (Trianon de Porcelaine) to be built there.
Thefaçade was made of white and blueDelft-style porcelain (ceramic) tiles from the French manufactures ofRouen,Lisieux,Nevers andSaint-Cloud. Construction began in 1670 and was finished two years later. Since it was made of porcelain, the building suffered from deterioration. Louis XIV ordered its demolition in 1686 and replaced it with a larger building.
By 1686, the fragile porcelain tiles of the Trianon de Porcelaine had deteriorated to such a point that Louis XIV ordered the demolition of the pavilion and its replacement with one made of stronger material. Commission of the work was entrusted to the architectJules Hardouin-Mansart. Hardouin-Mansart's new structure was twice the size of the porcelain pavilion, and the material used was red marble fromLanguedoc.[1]
Begun in June 1687, the new construction (as we see it today) was finished in January 1688. It was inaugurated by Louis XIV and his secret wife, theMarquise de Maintenon, during the summer of 1688.
Hardouin-Mansart's early plans for the building were substantially altered during construction, with the original intention of keeping the core of the Trianon de Porcelaine intact vetoed in favor of an open-airperistyle with a screen of red marble columns facing onto the garden. At least three other structures were built at the center of the new building and then torn down before the peristyle was settled on, during the frantic building activity of the summer of 1687. The slopingMansard roof of the original design, meant to harmonize with the roof of the Trianon de Porcelaine, was vetoed by the king, who felt it looked too "heavy" on the structure.[2] The long interior gallery which forks west from the main wing was built on the spot of a favorite outdoor promenade that Louis XIV enjoyed at the old Trianon de Porcelaine.
The interior design scheme departed significantly from what Louis XIV and his architects had established at the Palace of Versailles. Louis reputedly ordered the architects to "Paint everything white. No gilt or color for the walls of Trianon."[3] This was a departure from the variegated marbles, rich colors, and gilding which defined the interiors at Versailles. Instead of the heavy ornamentation on display in the palace, the walls of the Trianon were covered in delicately carved woodboiseries, with plaster friezes, pilasters, and capitals of noticeably more refined, delicate appearance.[4]
The Trianon was home to Louis XIV's extended family, housing his son and heirLouis, Grand Dauphin from 1703 to 1711. The domain was also a favourite retreat of theDuchess of Burgundy, the wife of his grandsonLouis de France, the parents ofLouis XV.[citation needed] In the later years of Louis XIV's reign, the Trianon was the residence of the King's sister-in-lawElizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, Dowager Duchess of Orléans and known at court asMadame. Her son,Philippe d'Orléans, future son-in-law of Louis XIV andRegent of France, lived there with his mother. Louis XIV even ordered the construction of a larger wing for the Trianon, which was begun in 1708 by Hardouin-Mansart; this wing, calledTrianon-sous-Bois, housed the Orléans family, including Louis XIV's legitimised daughterFrançoise-Marie de Bourbon.
The king's youngest grandson,Charles de France, and his wifeMarie Louise Élisabeth d'Orléans also resided there. The Orléans family, who had apartments at the Palace of Versailles, were later replaced by Françoise-Marie's sister; theDuchess of Bourbon,Madame la Duchesse, lived at the Trianon and later built thePalais Bourbon inParis, the design of which copied the Trianon.
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In 1708, the prototypes for thecommodesMazarine, then calledbureaux, were delivered to the Trianon byAndré-Charles Boulle. The firstDuke of Antin,Louis Antoine de Pardaillan de Gondrin, director of theBâtiments du Roi, wrote to Louis XIV: "I was at the Trianon inspecting the second writing desk by Boulle; it is as beautiful as the other and suits the room perfectly."[5]
In 1717,Peter the Great of Russia, who was studying the palace and gardens of Versailles, resided at the Trianon; thePeterhof Palace was inspired by Versailles.
Louis XV did not bring any changes to the Grand Trianon. In 1740 and 1743, his father-in-law,Stanisław Leszczyński, former king of Poland, stayed there during his visits to Versailles. In 1741, Louis XV gifted the Grand Trianon to his wifeMarie Leszczyńska.[6] Later, it was during a stay at Trianon that Louis XV fell ill before being transported to the Palace of Versailles, where he died on 10 May 1774.
No more than his predecessor had,Louis XVI brought no structural modifications to the Grand Trianon. His wife, QueenMarie Antoinette, who preferred thePetit Trianon, gave a few theatrical representations in thegalerie des Cotelle, a gallery with paintings byJean l'Aîné Cotelle representing the bosquets of Versailles and Trianon.[7]
During theFrench Revolution of 1789, the Grand Trianon was left to neglect. At the time of theFirst French Empire,Napoleon made it one of his residences, and he furnished it in theEmpire Style. Napoleon lived at Trianon with his second wife,Marie Louise of Austria. The next royals to live at the Grand Trianon were the King and Queen of the French –Louis Philippe I and his Italian wifeMaria Amalia of the Two Sicilies. He was a descendant of the Regent Philippe d'Orléans, and she was a niece of Marie Antoinette. In October 1837,Marie d'Orléans (daughter of Louis Philippe I) marriedAlexander of Württemberg at the Grand Trianon. Louis Philippe made sanitary alterations to the Grand Trianon, moving the kitchens and offices to the basement and adding plumbing. Despite these changes "the general character of the palace was unchanged, and even the original arrangement of the rooms was preserved," according toPierre de Nolhac.[8]
In 1873, MarshalFrançois Achille Bazaine was imprisoned for treason at the Grand Trianon and his trial took place in the peristyle.[9]
In 1920, the Grand Trianon hosted the negotiations and signing of theTreaty of Trianon, which leftHungary with less than one-third of its pre-World War I land size. To Hungarians, the word "Trianon" remains to this day the symbol of one of their worst national disasters.
In 1963,Charles de Gaulle ordered a renovation of the building.
A popular site today for tourists visiting Versailles, it is also one of theFrench Republic's presidential residences used to host foreign officials.
It is an official residence of thePresident of France, used for receiving foreign dignitaries.
48°48′53″N2°06′17″E / 48.81472°N 2.10472°E /48.81472; 2.10472
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