Le+petit+appartement+de+la+reine

The Le petit appartement de la reine is a suite of apartments located within Palace of Versailles. The apartments were built during the building of the Palace of Versailles in 1862, but were modified by queens for a better use. These apartments were the private rooms of the Queens of France, Maria Theresa of Spain, Marie Leszczyńska, and Marie Antoinette. The petit appartement de la reine is located behind the g rand appartement de la reine and opens into two interior courtyards. Since the suite of rooms was used by the Queens of France, each one had a different style so the rooms are taylored for each queen.

As the petit appartement de la reine has only been used for apartments and suites to queens and royal families, not many notable events have happened here. Although the suite never had major events happen within it’s walls, the rooms have gone through multiple changes with each queen. During the time Marie Antoinette was queen, she had spent great sums of money and time remodeling the suites and redecorating them in her style. In 1779 she hired her favorite architect, Richard Mique, and asked for the walls to be covered in white satin embroidered with floral arabesques. Completing this project cost France 100,000 livre, or about $144,184.55. Dating back to the rule of Marie-Thérèse, there is a secret passage of sorts that connects the petit appartement de la reine to the grand appartement de la reine, which Marie Antoinette used to escape the palace in 1789.

Today the petit appartement de la reine has been restored to the condition that it was in when Marie Antoinette left in 1789. The rooms have been restored to what they had once been in the style that Antoinette had.