Saturday 2 November 2019

The Aile du Midi of 1785

In the last years of the French monarchy's time at Versailles, the royal family was remarkably large - and as such, needed proper apartments to house them. Not only Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette (as well as their children) were to be provided for. Both of the king's brothers - the Comtes de Provence and d'Artois - as well as their wives and children were to be granted apartments. Added to these were the cousins of Orléans.

Besides the members of the royal family came the numerous aristocrats who could claim an apartment due to serving in a royal household. The following floor plans focus on the immediate royal family and their closest friends.

This is how Versailles' apartments were in the year of 1785.

The Ground Floor


A) Monsieur's Pavilion
B) Madame de Polignac
C) The Children of France

The First Floor

In the Aile du Midi, the king's siblings and cousins as well as the queen's household servants were housed.


A) Comte de Provence 
B) Madame Élisabeth
C) Comtesse d'Artois
D) Comte d'Artois
E) Pavilion d'Orléans
F) Household servants of Marie Antoinette
G) Staircase of the Princes

1) The Apothecary's Court
2) The Grand Staircase's Court
3) The Courtyard of "the Mouth" (the department responsible for the king's table)

Interestingly, I have not been able to find information as to who occupied the front part of the wing.

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