Which French chateau would you choose?

Which would you rather? Chateau Louis XIV or Versailles

(Credit: Pixabay)
(Credit: Pixabay)

To begin, they’re both world famous, though built centuries apart.

The first is a palace that was home to centuries worth of France’s rulers, which you know of in spite of any interest, Versailles, while the other was built from scratch in the 21st century and sold in 2015 to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Chateau Louis XIV.

However, a comparison between the two sprawling and luxurious homes is not as easy as fake versus real. A new book reveals Versailles has been notably altered since the 18th century when, in the rush of the French Revolution, its art and furniture were stripped from the palace’s 2,000 rooms are sold. The government has embarked on an effort to repatriate the work ever since, reports Bloomberg.

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So the historical scenes tourists flock to see at Versailles are not always as accurate and true to the history as they purport to be.

In comparison, at least with Chateau Louis XIV, visitors know there is no claim to represent that past, although developer Emad Khashoggi did hire about 150 artisans to work on the project and made an attempt to follow the architectural norms of the 17th century, though he added all the comforts of today including remote controlled temperature and lighting along with elevators and a home movie theater.

So, which would you rather? [Bloomberg] — Erin Hudson