Grandes Ecuries (Great Stables), Versailles

The Royal stables at Versailles once housed the equerries, the stablemen, musicians, page boys and 600 horses. Today the Great Stables is a museum.

The stables were built in 1683 by Jules Hardouin-Mansart. The twin buildings were lavishly decorated and enclosed the Square of Arms, which was a military practice area. The Small Stable was the same size as the Grande, but it was in the latter that the Great Squire lived and was in charge of the horses. These animals, the finest in France, were trained for war, but were mainly used for hunting. Only the king and the princes were allowed to ride them.

Today the horses are gone and the stable is the home of the Carriage Museum. In 1842 when King Louis-Philippe decided to have Versailles transformed into a huge museum, he installed the Museum of Carriages in Trianon, but it was moved to the stable building in 1985.

It is a fascinating museum to visit with its wonderful collection of 17th to 19th century carriages. You will see the carriage that carried King Charles 10th to his coronation, the funeral carriage of King Louis 18th, the baptism coach of the Duke of Bordeaux and the wedding coach of Napoleon Bonaparte.

There is also a fine collection of richly decorated Sedan chairs and several sleds that were once used in races on the frozen waters of the Grand Canal.