Grand Commun
The Grand Commun in the French city of Versailles served as the cavalier's house and farm building for the Palace of Versailles . The four-wing building was built by Jules Hardouin-Mansart on the occasion of the relocation of the seat of government from Paris to Versailles from 1682 to 1684 under King Louis XIV . It is located in the immediate vicinity of the palace between its south and left ministerial wings.
The generous 82 × 76 meter building in the Baroque style is stylistically based on the city-side facade design of the palace. In the basement it contained the palace kitchens and numerous utility rooms, as well as rooms for the servants of the Versailles court above . Since the neighboring castle was almost chronically overcrowded, apartments were also set up in the Grand Commun for lower-ranking courtiers and guests. The living quarters of the building were not very popular among the members of the French court and were considered improper due to its original function as a commercial building. At the time of the Ancien Régime , an average of more than 1,000 people lived in the building; the constant housing shortage of the court, however, could not solve the Grand Commun either and so with the Hôtel de Duras , the Hôtel de Louis and the Hôtel de Nyert further residential buildings were created in the city.
The Grand Commun housed an arms factory during the French Revolution and was converted into a military hospital named after Dominique Jean Larrey in 1823, a function it retained until the 20th century. The Grand Commun was restored in 2013 and has served the Versailles Museum as an exhibition and administrative building since 2015.
literature
- Jean-Marie Pérouse de Montclos, Robert Polidori : Versailles. Könemann, Cologne 1996, ISBN 3-89508-424-7 .
- Nicholas d'Archimbaud: Versailles. Stiebner, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-8307-0172-1 .
Web links
Coordinates: 48 ° 48 ′ 10.7 ″ N , 2 ° 7 ′ 19.5 ″ E