The Château de Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles, France. In english it is often referred to as the Palace of Versailles.
When the château was built, Versailles was a country village. Louis XIV, known as the "Sun King", wanted a site out of Paris where he could organize and control the government by absolute personal rule : Versailles became the official residence of the Court of France.
He settled on the royal hunting lodge at Versailles, and over the following decades had it expanded into the largest palace in the world.
All the power of France emanated from this centre: Versailles is therefore famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy wich Louis XIV espoused.
