Subsidiary structures of the Palace of Versailles

Five subsidiary structures located near the Palace of Versailles have a historical relation with the history and evolution of the palace. Of these five structures – the Ménagerie, the Pavillon de la Lanterne the Trianon de Porcelaine, the Grand Trianon (also called the Marble Trianon), and the Petit Trianon – two have been destroyed (the Ménagerie and the Trianon de Porcelaine); however, historical documentation and accounts permit these two structures to be discussed. As an ensemble of buildings related to, yet removed from, the chateau of Versailles, they represent architectural masterworks of the 17th and 18th centuries that have inspired architects to this day.

In response to increased interest in zoology—and especially with regard to Aristotelian theology, which experienced a renaissance through the works of Claude Perrault; as well as the passion for the exotic, Louis XIV ordered the construction of the Ménagerie in 1662. Completed in 1664, the Ménagerie was located at the southern end of the transverse branch of the Grand Canal. Comprising a complex of building that featured a central octagonal two-story pavilion, the Ménagerie was a favorite destination for visitors and courtiers. In Diderot's Encyclopédie, Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton recounts a story in which Louis XIV took delivery of an African elephant as a gift.

In 1668 the king of Portugal sent an elephant from the kingdom of Congo to the king of France. It was seventeen years old and measured six and a half feet from the ground to the top of its back. The elephant lived in the menagerie at Versailles for thirteen years and only grew a further foot, no doubt because the change in climate and food had stunted its growth; so it measured just seven and a half feet when the gentlemen of the Royal Academy of Sciences carried out their description of it.

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