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
Recollects Convent (Versailles) engineers left there for World War I. In 1985, the front portal of the basilica was repaired, keeping the original sculptures. In 2001, the area behind the building became a public park "le Jardin des Récollets" (Recollects park) inaugurated by Etienne Pinte, deputy-mayor of Versailles. In 2013, the park was redesigned by Nicola Gilsoul, architect and landscape architect, for the project of the city "la Cour des Senteurs". Since then, it has also been called "Jardin des Senteurs" (Scent Park). Recollects Convent (Versailles) The Recollects Convent was built originally in 1684 at the Palace of Versailles, France by order of