Rhinoceros of Versailles Rhinoceros of Versailles The Rhinoceros of Versailles was a living Indian rhinoceros which was kept in the Palace of Versailles menagerie from 1770 until 1793. The live rhinoceros was a gift from M. Chevalier, French governor of Chandernagor, to Louis XV. It left Calcutta, West Bengal on 22 December 1769, and arrived six months later in the seaport of Lorient, in Brittany on 11 June 1770. From there it was transported to the royal Ménagerie which had been built in response to increasing interest in zoology and Louis XIV's passion for the exotic, in 1664. The rhino was installed in
King Narai's Palace of Rattanakosin ordered the restoration of King Narai's Palace. He built a new throne hall complex (Phiman Monkut Pavilion) for his stay in 1856. He also renamed the palace "Phra Narai Rajanivet". During King Chulalongkorn's (Rama V) reign, Phiman Mongkut Pavilion, which had been King Mongkut's accommodations, was given to the government to use as the Lopburi City Hall. On October 11, 1924, Prince Damrong Rajanubhab and Prince Narisara Nuvadtivongs opened the Chantarapisarn Pavilion in King Narai's palace as a museum, calling it the Lopburi Museum. Later, in 1961 the name of the museum was changed to "Somdet Phra Narai