The Filth and Squalor of Versailles,The home of famous French kings such as Louis XIV and Louis XVI

The Filth and Squalor of Versailles,The home of famous French kings such as Louis XIV and Louis XVI , the Palace of Versailles is a national symbol of France filled with beauty and grandeur.  Indeed, the palace under Louis XIV was one of the grandest palaces in all of Europe.  However, while Versailles was the home of the Bourbons, and thus a symbol of what was then one of the most powerful empires on earth, the palace was also a smelly heap of filth and squalor, rivaling the filthy streets of Paris itself.Although the Bourbon’s spared no expense in the expansion and upkeep of Versailles, the main problem was that the palace and grounds had little in the way of sewage and bathroom facilities.  As the center of the Kingdom of France, Versailles was often filled with courtiers, VIP’s,  there to petition the king, or ask for favors and handouts.  There were also hundreds of commoners who were spectators and tourists. In addition, another 2,000 people made Versailles their permanent home.  With a lack of bathroom facilities, it was not uncommon for people to use the grand and ornate hallways of Versailles as places to relieve themselves, urinating or defecating behind columns or in Versailles’ many archways.  Dogs and other pets also left their droppings, not to mention other animals that might be brought by commoners who sought audience with a government official.  When the English politician Horace Walpole visited Versailles, he noted“Versailles was a vast cesspool, reeking of filth and befouled with ordure…The odor clung to clothes,wigs, even undergarments. Worst of all, beggars, servants, and aristocratic visitors alike used the stairs, the corridors, any out-of-the-way place to relieve themselves. The passages, the court yards, the wings and the corridors were full of urine and fecal matter. The park, the gardens and the chateau made one retch with their bad smell.”Versailles beautiful courtyards and gardens were also not immune to the filth, often being used as a corral for animals by visitors, and as a dumping ground for garbage and sewage.  King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette had their own rooms and apartments deeper within Versailles, often accessed by a network of secret doors and hallways which connected to the public common area.  However, even the king and queen’s personal quarters were not free of the stench and filth.  One other major problem was that Versailles’ chimneys did not draw out air very well, so much of the inner rooms of Versailles were covered in soot and ash from its many fireplaces.Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI hated living in the filth at Versailles, especially Marie, after having a chamber pot accidentally emptied on her, which was casually thrown from a window out to the courtyard.  To get away from Versailles, Marie Antoinette had a quaint village built a mile away from the palace, which often served as her residence.Today, Versailles is hardly the cesspit of its early past.  Rather, as a national treasure it is fastidiously kept and preserved.  Proper pluming was installed in the early 19th century, so there is no longer any need for tourists and visitors to leave their human wastes in the hallways. -- source link

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