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| - You can find the fictitious version of the Palaise ingame in HKO in Paris of course, on the far left side of the map. Again it is a locked building. My Melody is sleeping inside. To discover the key to the door you will have to talk to Melody's family and do some questing, that may take a while. Melody's Grandpa and Melody's Grandma are standing around not far from the entrance. The "Versailles" or "Château de Versailles" is a royal castle (château) in Versailles, which is a surburb of Paris in France well known for its rich history and the birthplace of gothic architecture. At the time the château was built, Versailles was a smaller village. It only became more important in 1682, when King Louis XIV moved to live there and reigned with many of his noble subjects from there as an abolute monarch. Louix XIV, "Louis le Grand", had the château expanded a lot in a first building campaign from 1664-1668, to hold a glamorous party for 600 guests. A celebration there in 1664, the so called "Plaisirs de l’Île enchantée", a hidden honor to the kings mistress (Louise de La Vallière), this is regarded as the start of the War of Devolution against Spain. A second building campaign for the château was started with the signing of the Aix-la-Chapelle, that ended the war with spain. The building campaign took from 1669 to 1672. The château neuf (new castle) was built then, enclosed the hunting lodge on all four sides and was made into new lodgings for the whole royal family. It included a octagonal tub built into the floor with hot and also cold running water. The decoration showed "heroic actions of the king" represented by historical figures from the past, like Alexander the Great. The third building campaign for the château (1678-1684) began with the Treaty of Nijmegen in 1678, ending the Dutch war. The hall of mirrors was installed, also the Orangerie and wings for princes as well as nobility, by Le Brun. The palace gardens were overworked again by Le Nôtre. In may of 1682 the King installed his court now at Versailles officially. The fourth building campaign was undertook around 1699 after the war of the League of Augsburg. This time the royal chapel was designed (by Hardouin-Mansart) and finished (by Robert de Cotte) until 1710. After Louis XIV died in 1715, the Russian Czar Peter the Great stayed in Versailles and used it (also the gardens) as an inspiration for his Peterhof west of Saint Petersburg. Louis XV remade some appartments and salons of Versailles. But he also constructed the Opéra and the "Petit Trianon", a smaller mirror of the Grand Trianon, a pleasure palace in the park of the Château Versailles, built by King Louis XIV who commissioned architect François Mansart. Louis XVI finished projects started by his grandfather in Versailles. Like a complete replanting of the garden to make it into an English-style garden. At the time of the French Revolution the royal family had to go back to Paris on October 6th 1789. The citizens of Versailles oversaw the preservation of the Château Versailles. The citizens refused to send the furniture of the châteu to Paris, because of the economic state of the city Versailles. But on June 21th in 1791, Louis XIV was arrested and the palace of Versailles was sealed. Later the furniture was put on auction in 1793. In 1793 the metal statues gardens of Versailles were confiscated and made into cannons. The château was placed under the care of the new Republic. So the château became a repository for works of art, that had been seized. The Conservatoire du Muséum national de Versailles was founded. In 1795, André Dumont assembled a new team of overseers for Versailles. 200.000 printed volumes and also manuscripts that had been left had now to be organized in the château. But the wealths still left in the château, like mirrors, upholstery, fringes, draperies and so on were removed to be sold. Parts of Versailles also housed wounded soldiers. In 1797 the muséum was reorganized and renamed, into "Musée spécial de l’École française". It became the finest museum of French art in time. But at the times of Napoleon and his First Empire, the art works were moved to other locations and the museum was closed. Versailles was again designated as an imperial palace. Napoleon himself did not reside there, but the empress Marie-Louise. After the revolution of 1830, Louis-Philipped established a museum in Versailles again. It was inaugurated on June 10th 1837. It had a few masterpieces but also low-quality paintings on display. The boiseries were lost, either sold or burned. Next to the exhibitions the château also saw a number of important state events and visitors. In 1892 Pierre de Nolhac was appointed conservator of the museum . He started the restoration and preservation of the château. This continued after the Second World War, by Gérald van der Kemp, conservator of the museum from 1952 to 1980. The government tried to retrieve what was left of the original artwork and furniture of Château de Versailles. The Palace of Versailes still also serves political functions and meetings are held there. Event the Sénat and the Assemblée nationale meet in congress in Versailles.
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