Palace of Versailles almost all of his courtiers. After the death of Maria Theresa of Spain in 1683, Louis XIV undertook the enlargement and remodeling of the royal apartments in the original part of the palace, within the former hunting lodge built by his father. He instructed Mansart to begin the construction of the Royal Chapel of Versailles, which towered over the rest of the palace. Hardouin-Mansart died in 1708 and so the chapel was completed by his assistant Robert de Cotte in 1710. Louis XIV died in 1715, and the young new King, Louis XV, just five years old, and his government
Versailles rail accident Versailles rail accident The Versailles rail accident occurred on May 8, 1842 in the cutting between Meudon and Bellevue stations on the railway between Versailles and Paris following King Louis Philippe's celebrations at the Palace of Versailles. A train returning to Paris derailed at Meudon after the leading locomotive broke an axle, and the carriages behind piled into it and caught fire. It was the first French railway accident and the deadliest in the world at the time, causing between 52 and 200 deaths, including that of explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville and his wife Adèle Dumont D'Urville. The accident led