The Gardens of Versailles
On Gingerguide's self-guided Versailles audio tour, The Gardens of Versailles is a stop worth about ~90 min. Stand in front of it, press play for a short narrated story, and put any follow-up question to the built-in AI guide.
- Type garden
- Suggested visit ~90 min
- Versailles Versailles guide
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About The Gardens of Versailles
A vast formal garden ruled by one dead-straight axis, where embroidered hedges, shaded groves and around fifty fountains were fed by water hauled uphill to a site with no river.
The Gardens of Versailles rank among the largest and most influential formal gardens in the jardin a la francaise tradition. Andre Le Notre was entrusted with their creation and remodelling from 1661 and worked on them for about forty years, organising the whole estate around a single east-west axis, the Grande Perspective, that runs from the chateau's Water Parterre along the Tapis Vert to the Apollo Fountain and the Grand Canal.
The vocabulary is rigorously geometric: embroidered parterres near the palace, bosquets or formal groves used as open-air rooms, straight allees and ornamental basins, threaded with hundreds of sculptures and around fifty fountains. Because the site had no natural river, an elaborate system of reservoirs and pumps, including the Machine de Marly, supplied the water; even so, the fountains were run in sequence rather than continuously. Today the staged Grandes Eaux shows set the fountains to Baroque music.
Did you know? Versailles sits on no river, so every fountain jet is hauled uphill and stored. Supply never met demand, so keepers switched fountains on only as the king walked past, then off again behind him.
How much time do you need at The Gardens of Versailles?
Around ~90 min works well for The Gardens of Versailles — time to look properly and listen to its story on the spot. Linger if you like; nothing on a self-guided walk is on a clock.
Should you stop at The Gardens of Versailles?
Yes — The Gardens of Versailles made the cut as one of 15 places the Gingerguide team researched and narrated across Versailles. The story tells you why it is worth the stop, and the AI guide fills in anything you still wonder.
Nearby stops in Versailles
Day 2 of the Versailles in 2 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of The Gardens of Versailles
Preview the Versailles tour free in the Gingerguide app.