The Queen's Hamlet (Le hameau de la reine)
10 likes2,179 views
The Queen's Hamlet was a rustic retreat built for Marie Antoinette near Versailles between 1783 and 1787. It contained 12 cottages, farms, and structures like a mill, dairy, dovecote and barn. Marie Antoinette had her own house connected to the pool and nearby boudoir. Other buildings served functional purposes like housing workers, storing supplies, and hosting parties. The hamlet was designed as an idyllic rural escape for the Queen within the grounds of Versailles.
The Queen's Hamlet (Le hameau de la reine)
- 2. The Queen’s Hamlet The Queen's Hamlet (Hameau de la Reine) is a rustic retreat in the park of the Château de Versailles built for Marie Antoinette between1783 and 1787 near the Petit Trianon in the Yvelines, France. Designed by the Queen's favoured architect, Richard Mique, and with the help of the painter Robert Hubert, it contained a meadowland with lakes and streams, a classical Temple of Love on an island with fragrant shrubs and flowers, and an octagonal Belvedere, with a neighbouring grotto and cascade. The twelve cottages constructed in the hamlet can be divided into two groups: five were reserved for use by the Queen; the other seven had a functional purpose and were used effectively for agriculture. Marie Antoinette had her own house, connected to the pool. Nearby was her boudoir. The mill and the dairy received frequent visits from the Queen.
- 3. The Queen’s House and Billiard Room The Queen's House is located in the centre of the hamlet. It is joined by a wooden gallery to the Billiard Room and upstairs apartment. The Queen's House has a dining room and a games room on the first floor and a large and a small living room, and a Chinese room on the second floor.
- 4. The Queen’s House and Marlborough Tower
- 5. The Boudoir, (4.6 x 5.2 metres) to which Marie Antoinette retired alone, was originally nicknamed "the Queen's little house". It is a living room and wardrobe for the Queen's use. The Warming Room (the Kitchen and Bakery) is recessed at the rear of the Queen's house. It was used to prepare the dishes for dinners given by the Queen in the house or mill. The Mill, built and fitted from 1783 to 1788, was never used for grinding grain, contrary to what is often argued. The wheel is driven by a stream derived from the Grand Lake and is only a decorative element. No mechanism or wheel were installed in the factory. The interior decoration was simple and neat. The Marlborough Tower (The Fishery Tower) is a lighthouse used for sending signals to the Palace of Versailles. Boating parties set off from this tower and fishing equipment was stored here. The Dairy. Initially, there were two dairies: the "Preparation Dairy" which produced creams and cheeses, is located near the tower. It was where the milk was skimmed and the butter beaten. In the second dairy, the Queen tasted the dairy products from tables of veined white marble supported by fourteen carved consoles and arranged around the room.
- 11. The Boudoir
- 13. The Warming Room
- 15. The Mill
- 25. The Grand Lake
- 26. The Diary and Marlborough Tower
- 36. The Belvédère
- 38. The Grotto
- 40. The Temple of Love was built in 1778 and situated in the far end of the Versailles garden between the Petit Trianon and Le Hameau. It was built with white marble and consists of columns, friezes and a circular dome.
- 42. THE FARM The Farm was set apart from the hamlet because it was a functioning structure, rather than a play house. The Housekeeper's Cottage is located at the water's edge. The Barn was used as a ballroom. It was badly damaged during the French Revolution and destroyed during the First Empire. The Dovecote. The dovecote and pigeon coops were near the lake. Roosters and hens of different species were brought from the west of France and settled in the aviary in 1785.
- 59. Marie Antoinette, born an archduchess of Austria, was Dauphine of France from 1770 to 1774 and Queen of France and Navarre from 1774 to 1792. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and Empress Maria Theresa.
- 60. Images and text: Internet Music: Mozart-Piano Concerto #20 in D Minor K466 (Romance) Adriana