The Garden of Versailles started out as a small hunting lodge built by Louis the XIII in 1623. This was intended as a weekend home retreat for his own leisure and enjoyment. He kept his mistresses there and provided them with lots of land for beautiful walks and a beautiful home. However, Versailles was added onto some time after the original infrastructure. It was built onto by Andre Le Notre in 1664. The contents of this garden were spectacular and the garden was open and grand. It carried a baroque style which encompassed an Orangery that had over 3,000 trees for citrus. It provided fruits and a beautiful aroma throughout the whole garden. This orangery expressed a strong presence of architecture of the Spain, Portugal and Italian influence. The baroque style also encompassed large extravagant fountains with lots of water use, a long canal, large lawn space and rich bosquets, which were ornamental groves incorporated throughout the garden.
The Garden and palace of Versailles was built not only for its beauty and to be appeasing to the eye but it carried a statement of power. The statement of French wealth was highly influential in this garden and palace along with its protection to the King because of the dangerous status of Paris at the time. Perhaps the King wanted to transfer as much power as he could to his garden from Paris who held previous power. The different levels of the garden allowed for better protection and places for the King to hide away from enemies, not to mention even hiding some of his mistresses from the Queen herself.
King Louis the XIV stressed the need for power during his rule. The garden of Versailles helped to compliment and satisfy this overall need for power. As mentioned earlier, his desire for power was expressed through the grandiose element to the garden and the prestige buildings built onto the garden and palace grounds. The spacious quarters around Versailles allowed for noblemen to live and share a life with the King. This privileged and benefited the noble men to have a nice living style and adequate supply of resources. However, this situation also benefited King Louis XIV because it created a source of power and establishment for him. This idea was known as a garden of control or better stated as, "A Golden Cage". This recreational space supplied theater and concerts, great statement of opulence to keep the noblemen happy, large scale entertainment and a garden of prestige for the noble men to walk around in and enjoy. This "Golden Cage", allowed opportunity for noblemen to live a luxurious life, but in turn, locked them into the King's power and rule. This system highlights a clear trade off.
The monarchy which the King occupied was complimented by the inhabitant noblemen because this opportunity was understood as serving the King. Through this belief and idea, power and authority was promoted and spread throughout society and in turn, gained by the King during his rule. This royal authority carried on throughout the King's rule and was a deep component to the history of Versailles still discussed about today.
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