Versailles · FR

Cour Royale

The Royal Courtyard (Cour Royale) is the intimate, ticketed inner court of the Palace of Versailles, tucked behind the gilded Royal Gate and the broad Main Courtyard. It is the threshold most visitors pass through on their way to the Marble Courtyard, the State Apartments and the Hall of Mirrors, so its grand arcaded façades set the scene for everything that follows. Far from being a mere transit point, the courtyard is a masterpiece of stagecraft in stone: nearly a hundred sculpted busts of Roman emperors and figures of antiquity line its elevations, a deliberate "new Rome" created for Louis XIV. Today the Royal Courtyard is also the practical heart of the visit, where the audioguide desk, the Palace's main entrances and a famous tea room all converge.