Database: Palais de Versailles

Originally a hunting lodge built for Louis XIII, the Palace of Versailles was expanded into one of the largest palaces in the world, and the seat of the French monarchy, under the reign of his successor, Louis XIV. The royal family abandoned the palace for the Tuileries in Paris at the outset of the French Revolution. After the King's arrest, Versailles, along with all royal possessions, was confiscated and sealed. The furnishings were sold at auction in 1793, and in 1794 it was turned into a museum.* -- * Odd. They got rid of everything in it, and then turned it into a museum. What were people supposed to look at? Small signs saying "A fancy chair used to be here"? -- Despite the various restorations, empires, and revolutions that followed, Versailles would never again be a center of political power.