Fransız Sarayı

Fransız Sarayı Historic Diplomat Residence

Elegant building erected in 1839 serving as the Istanbul home of France’s ambassador to Turkey.

The Palace of Versailles or the Palace of Versailles (French: Le château de Versailles) is a historic French chateau. The construction of the first building of the palace started in 1661, then it was expanded at different times. The palace is used as a museum today. The Versailles palace is typically French in that it is planned very broadly. For the first time after the Roman Empire, large dimensions were used in this palace. The reason for this was the rich and centralized monarchy. Palaces such as the Versailles palace could not be built for a long time because the political environments were different in Italy, Germany and England.

As an interesting feature of the palace, no toilet or bathroom was considered in its construction. The reason for this was that in the nobility understanding of that time, the nobles could meet their needs wherever they wanted. This is why it was widely said in Europe that the scent of the palace of Versailles was “unique from all the palaces in Europe” (Memoirs: Duc de Saint-Simon). Until 1768, there were no functioning toilets in the palace. After the French Revolution in 1789, there were only 9 toilets in the entire palace, and they belonged only to the king and his immediate family members. The rest of the staff of the palace would use the potty, and these smells would completely cover the apartment and the general atmosphere and the clothes of the employees. Although prohibited, potties were often emptied out of room windows by workers.