Palace and Park of Versailles, France is also referred as Versailles is a royal château in Versailles, France. The French refers it as Château de Versailles. When the Palace and Park of Versailles, France was built, Versailles was a mere country village. But, today, it is a suburb of Paris. From 1682, when King Louis XIV moved from Paris, until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in 1789, the Court of Versailles was the centre of power in Ancient Régime France. Versailles or the Palace and Park of Versailles, France is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy that Louis XIV espoused.

The Palace of Versailles in France was the official residence of the Kings of France from 1682 to 1790. It was originally a hunting lodge, built in 1624, by Louis XIII. It was expanded by Louis XIV beginning in 1669. He used the Palace and Park of Versailles as a little lodge as a secret refuge for his ardent rendezvous with the lovely Louise de la Valliere and built a fairy tale park around it.  Jules Hardouin Mansart, the king's chief architect, drew the plans to enlarge what was turning more and more into a palace from A Thousand and One Nights. The terrace that overlooked the gardens was removed to make way for the magnificent Hall of Mirrors, the Galarie de Glaces. It is here from which the king executed his power and where the destiny of Europe was decided over a century. The French classical architecture was complemented by extensive gardens.