of uncertain origin; perhaps from Latin versus "slope." Originally a hunting lodge built by Louis XIII; made into a palace 17c. by Louis XIV.
City in northern France about ten miles southwest of Paris.
Note: It is the site of the Palace of Versailles, which was built by King Louis xiv in the seventeenth century and was the royal residence for over one hundred years.
Note: The French Revolution began in Versailles, when mobs stormed the palace.
Note: The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, officially ended World War I.
capital city of Yvelines departement, Paris region, northern France, 14 mi (22 km) southwest of Paris. The city developed around the 17th-century palace built by Louis XIV, the principal residence of the kings of France and the seat of the government for more than 100 years. The first scenes of the French Revolution were also enacted at the palace, whose gardens, the masterpiece of Andre Le Notre, have become part of the national heritage of France and one of the most visited historic sites in Europe. Although it was a place of entertainment, the grandiose palace was also well equipped as a centre of government. Of about 20,000 persons attached to the court, some 1,000 courtiers with 4,000 attendants lived in the palace itself. About 14,000 soldiers and servants were quartered in annexes and in the town, which was founded in 1671 and had 30,000 inhabitants when Louis XIV died in 1715.