Versailles
| Palace and Park of Versailles* | |
|---|---|
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
| |
| Country | France |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, ii, vi |
| Reference | 83 |
| Region** | Europe |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1979 (3rd Session) |
  Location of Versailles in France Île-de-France | |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO. | |
Versailles, a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial center. Located in the western suburbs of the French capital, 17.1 km (10.6 mi) from the center of Paris, the communeis Versailles is the préfecture (administrative seat) of the Yvelines department. According to the 2006 census, the population of the city is 89,490 inhabitants, down from a peak of 94,145 in 1975. In 2021, the population had fallen further to 83,587.
Versailles is historically known for numerous treaties such as Treaty of Paris (1783), which ended the American Revolutionary War, and the infamous Treaty of Versailles following World War I.
Palace of Versailles
Statistical Information on the Palace of Versailles:
- Floor space: 67,000 m²
- Number of windows: 2,153
- Number of rooms: 700
- Staircases: 67
- Paintings in the museum’s collection: 6,123
- Drawings in museum’s collection: 1,500
- Engravings in museum’s collection: 15,034
- Sculptures in museum’s collection: 2,102
- Pieces of furniture and objets d’art: 5,210
History
Proclamation of the German Empire
The proclamation of the German Empire (German: Deutsche Reichsgründung) took place in January 1871 after the joint victory of the German states in the Franco-German War. As a result of the November Treaties of 1870, the southern German states of Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, with their territories south of the Main line, Württemberg and Bavaria, joined the Prussian-dominated "North German Confederation" on 1 January 1871. On the same day, the new Constitution of the German Confederation came into force, thereby significantly extending the federal German lands to the newly created German Empire. This had been the great goal of Reichskanzler in spe Otto Fürst von Bismarck, a Second Reich after the demise of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, but now under Prussian-Hohenzollern rule.
