ROYAL OPERA OF VERSAILLES: Inside the King’s Theatre at Château de Versailles

ROYAL OPERA OF VERSAILLES: Inside the King’s Theatre at Château de Versailles

Welcome back to our channel. Today we are in Versailles and we’re going to be taking you to the Royal Opera of Versail Ona. Today we are in what we can certainly call our most favorite place in France and probably the whole world dear. But this is not a visit of the Chateau itself. For that we invite you to check our Versail playlist. In this video, we’ll be taking you to the magnificent Royal Opera of Versailles. Zooming past the crowds of tourists, we are taken behind the closed doors of the opera. At the very end of the north wing of the chateau, we find ourselves in the area that’s usually close to public, the opera’s Vistul. And while we admire the magnificent architecture and sculptures that used to grace the gardens, let us go back to the beginnings of this opera. [Music] From the very moment Louis 14th decided to move his court here, Lucai was never only his residence. It was his stage. Under the Sun King, music, theater, and dance were instruments of power. Louis 14th not only enjoyed a good spectacle and art that came with it, but he also understood that authority and image could be shaped by it. From the earliest years of his reign, the Sun King used performance as a form of governance. Hence the installation of strict etiquette protocols at the court. From the very beginning, Louis 14th had great parties organized here. They would establish the image of Versailles as the palace of lavish excess and excellence only equal to the sovereign himself. The events would be held all over the domain including the gardens, the Grand Canal, the Marble Court, Lagan Euri, Lohani. In short, with all these events, a need for a proper theater intensified. Leort 14 planned to build it at the end of the north wing where the land sloped significantly allowing for the construction of substantial undercrafts and the construction of a vast stage box. The choice of this location was logical. The proximity of the reservoir constituted a safety assurance in case of fire and the steep slope of the ground made it possible to obtain for the stage significant minutes without it being necessary to dig deeply. Juel Arduan Mansa and Carlo Vigarani who was the king’s engineer and then intendant of pleasures until 1690 presented various theater projects to the king. The structural work began in 1685 but was quickly interrupted due to the wars and the financial difficulties at the end of the reign. As a result, Lufort 14 prioritized the construction of the royal chapel which we visited in detail last year. The link to that episode is in the pin comment below. Anjac Gabriel, the king’s first architect since 1742, continued to tirelessly carry out a series of studies on the project. Louis 15th was initially uninterested, even reluctant. However, following the fire of the theater at the central manes of the grand eciri on 13th September 1751, the need of a grand theater for the upcoming events and marriages of the royal family members as well as continuous attempts of Gabrielle Louis 15th finally agreed to send the French architects to Italy to conduct research tour of the country’s most beautiful halls. The overall architecture was entrusted to Gabrielle. The work was therefore finally launched in 1768 and it accelerated to be completed for the grand marriage of Louis August de France future Louis 16th and the arch dess of Austria Marianet in 1770. The inauguration was scheduled for May 16th 1770. Incredibly the opera was completed in the record time of 23 months. [Music] Gabrielle delivered a theater that incorporated the most significant advances of his time. A truncated ellipse plan levels set back from each other and French style boxes without lodges. The trip to Italy bore its fruit as the hall is Italian by its plan. Something novel for the time. Its elevation however is very French with its balconies in progressive retreat and its seating only split by low partitions improving acoustics and visibility. One must remember this is the royal opera so only the king and the queen are entitled to a private lodge which is located at the center. There are no blind spots and being entirely made of wood the room resonates like a violin. The last upper level features an elegant colonad that achieved perfect balance and refinement. We’ll be visiting upper levels later in the video. So stick around. The sculpted decoration was entrusted to Augustan Pu, a French neocclassical sculptor under Louis 15th and Louis 16th. While the paintings were commissioned from Louis Jacqu Duramo, his central painting Apollo distributing crowns to the muses features Apollo on clouds respendant with glory. He receives gerans of Laurel and Ivy from Venus intended for the muses who contributed to the success of the opera. Juamo will also create the paintings depicting the loves of the gods that adorn the small ceilings between the columns of the last level. Standing in the center of this magnificent hall, one could appreciate the decorations that are of the most refined. The red marble, the saran colang, the deep green marble, the gilding and blue velvet, the woodwork, and even the four marble all provoke admiration and wonder. But it wasn’t only the decor and architecture of this opera that were revolutionary. The layout of the machinery and everything related to the stage was a masterpiece on its own. Created by the king’s first stage hand, Ble Enri Arno, the technical prowess and also the adaptability of the machinery are what set this opera apart from its contemporaries. Arno designed a permanent system for the opera Royale that made it possible to simply modify the heights of the floors of the stalls and the amphitheater as needed thanks to machinery placed beneath these spaces. And to see it close in person, we descended several floors underground to get acquainted with the forest that sits seven levels under the stage. Here we are met with the ancient machinery of the theater with its original drums and caps which allow for the raisin and lowering of the sets and decor. This forest is impressive. Long rotof and straight woods almost 20 m high form a unique cathedral, a labyrinth of sorts where the scale of this structure can be truly appreciated. It feels like a city within a city. Finally, the opera offered Lucato the spaces that it had always lacked. We made our way back up, but this time one level higher to the oval room that served as a private entrance for the king. It is connected directly to the grand apart of the king via a dedicated gallery. Through here, the royal family could access their central lodge directly without having to be seen. In fact, the central open of the lodge features a grieve with gilded bronze and decorated with arabesque made by Antoan Fran. This grill allowed the sovereign to attend the performance without being seen. It was done for privacy and also not to interrupt the spectacle as at the time etiquette required for the play to end should the king decide to leave. This way the king could simply leave without being noticed. It feels intimate yet grand and opulent. Exactly what you’d expect from Versail. Next we climbed even higher to the last level. This space feels like the culmination of the whole theater. The demi chandelier are cleverly attached to the mirrors to create an illusion of a complete chandelier. The mirrors further reflect the lights and infinitely expand the space. Just imagine the cost of lighting up this ground hall. Considering that at the time one candle would cost a little more than a full day wage of a worker and on average over 700 candles were required for a single evening. The last use of the theater for the court dates back to July 18, 1784 when a ball was given to the king of Sweden, Gustav III. 5 years later on October 1st, 1789, the famous bodyguard bank put an end to the use of the premises under the Anan regime. As we made our way back down, we passed by Lefay, a grand hall located at the back of the amphitheater featuring Antoan Pu sculptures depicting Apollola, Venus, youth and health, abundance and peace, epic and dramatic poems. This hall was used by the privileged few to warm up before, during, or after the spectacle thanks to the grand fireplace located here. So what happened to Opia during and after the revolution? The hall was spared but remained empty of furniture, mirrors, decor and lighting. Under Louis Philip, the restorations were carried out, albeit altering its original layout, especially when it came to the private lodge of the king and its appearance. In 1855, Napoleon III offered Leank to Queen Victoria. At the fall of the Second Empire, the newly elected National Assembly was seated here until the construction of the Congress Hall at the opposite side of the shuttle. We published an episode about that part of Versailles history, the link to which can be found in the pinned comment below. The return of the chambers to Paris in 1879 fortunately avoided the destruction of the stage cage. After the Second World War, the Royal Opera was restored and inaugurated on April 9th, 1957 in the presence of the Queen Elizabeth II. Major work carried out between 2007 and 2009. And since then, the opera hosts regular shows and plays that can be booked directly on its official website. [Music] So, what can I say about this visit? Five star, 10 star, maximum stars. Why? because you could pass by the uh opera sometimes they open it but this visit really takes you everywhere as you have seen it’s absolutely definitely recommended it’s absolutely amazing in there they’ve also opened the chapel the royal chapel is open right now for people well the ground floor the lower floor uh and people just go there uh the central part is still protected because the marble at the bottom is extremely thin it’s about 3 mm thin so it’s important for them to protect is and um I think it’s a good thing. But if you come to Vai, you will be able now to walk into the actual chap Royale um without the visit. If you want to see the full chapel and other things behind it, check out the episode that we’ve done on it. We’ll put it below. And another thing is that um the uh statueets or statues all along the uh central part of the facade, they have been finally all placed back in. So now when you come here all the statues are there and they’re absolutely beautiful. So yeah is gorgeous. One more thing I almost forgot. They’ve put the um the plants in pots. You have about I think four palm trees on each side at the entrances. So they look absolutely gorgeous. They provide some shade and it’s just cool. We love it. And that’s it for today. We hope you like this episode. And if you would like to see more of this content, please don’t forget to like, share, and comment below. And until the next one. [Music]

In this video we invite you to step inside one of France’s most remarkable royal theatres — the Royal Opera of Versailles! Usually hidden and not open to the general visits, this XVIII century masterpiece was designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel for the grand wedding of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette.

In this episode, we explore every level of this extraordinary space — from the opulent royal box and neoclassical decor to the underground “forest” of wooden machinery that once transformed the stage into a ballroom or banquet hall overnight.

Discover how this Opera’s architecture revolutionised theatre design in France, and what became of it after the Revolution. On y va!

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Recorded in July 2024, June and July 2025.

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CHAPTERS:
0:00 Intro
0:56 History of the Opéra Royal
3:54 Inside the Opéra Royal
6:15 Underground forest of the Opéra
6:54 King’s oval room and the Royal Lodges
7:45 Top floor colonnade and balconies
8:37 Foyer of the Opéra
10:12 Our thoughts and Versailles updates

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