Subsidiary structures of the Palace of Versailles revetment—tiles would fracture and detach from the surface of the buildings due to the cold weather. In 1687, the Trianon de Porcelaine was destroyed; but, as the location of favored by Louis XIV, the Grand Trianon was built on the same site. It has been said that Louis XIV built Versailles for his court, Trianon for his family, and Marly for his friends—and the Grand Trianon did serve the Sun King and his family. Built by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the Grand Trianon is unabashedly one of his greatest works. Constructed of pink Languedoc marble between 1687-1689 in an Italianate-style, this two-story
Rhinoceros of Versailles a small pen at the Ménagerie of Versailles. When the rhinoceros died in 1793, having been in captivity in France for more than 20 years, its skeleton and hide were preserved. They are today displayed at the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris. 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