The Olympic equestrian events are held on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles, and the palace can be seen from the grandstands.
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Alex Broadway/Getty Images
VERSAILLES, France — Websites for 2024 Olympic Games has amazed audiences, from a beach volleyball venue at the foot of the Eiffel Tower to a turn-of-the-century exhibition hall. Grand Palace.
But nowhere can match the combination of history and grandeur like the venue for modern equestrian and biathlon events: Palace of Versailles.
One time, spectacular 17th century castle As the seat of power in France for King Louis XIV, its halls were packed with diplomats and courtiers. In recent years, it has become one of the most visited tourist attractions in Europe. And now, 16,000 Olympic spectators stroll the west side of the estate, where a temporary grandstand now overlooks the castle, its gilded roof glistening in the summer sun.
“When you come here and see the palace at the end of the road, it’s spectacular,” said Charlie Frye, who had travelled from the UK to watch British equestrian Harry Charles, a close friend, compete in the team show jumping final. “There’s probably no better place for it. It’s unbelievable.”
The venue’s setting has helped attract celebrity attention to equestrian events, including visits from French President Emmanuel Macron (“I think we can all be very proud to host these events here,” he told reporters after the team show final), tennis legend Serena Williams and Retired NFL star Tom Bradywho came with his 11 year old daughter.
And those lucky enough to have the best possible vision will try not to see at all.
“When I’m in the ring, I try not to look up too much. I try to blur things out,” said McLain Ward, an American equestrian who has competed in six Olympic Games and countless other equestrian competitions in beautiful locations.
But Versailles — “spectacular” and “stunning,” he said — stands out. “It’s one of those iconic settings that will transcend not only our sport but time,” he added.
The gardens and palaces are open to visitors during the Olympics.
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Rebecca Blackwell/AP
The Olympics are tied to the long history of horses at Versailles.
To some, holding Olympic events in such a historic place might seem sacrilegious. Museum officials say the opposite.
Versailles has a long and rich history with horses, says Laurent Salomé, director of the National Museum. At its height, there were parades and ceremonies on horseback, and Louis XIV built huge royal stables that once housed hundreds of horses.
Holding the Olympic equestrian events here fits that legacy, he said. “This is a wonderful celebration of horses where they belong—in Versailles, where they have always been central,” Salomé said.
The site is located on the west side of the estate, on a square called the Étoile Royale. From the palace, the grandstand can be seen across the mile-long Grand Canal, which lines up with the exquisite symmetry of the grounds.
Before his son built the palace the world knows today, his father Louis XIII built a hunting lodge here, where he often came to escape the hustle and bustle of the palace to go hunting with his horses and dogs.
The garden paths and overlooks that exist today were once the routes into the forest that the king used to follow to begin his hunting trips, Salomé said.
“Maybe that’s one of the reasons why it felt so natural to put it here and in the center of the view, rather than thinking, ‘Okay, we have the space, we can hide it somewhere in the woods,’” says Salomé.
The museum has also embraced Olympic fever. Officials have accelerated a long-in-the-making horse exhibit. Now the palace’s hallways are lined with stunning horse paintings and artifacts from a historical period when horses played a central role in European life—including three spectacular suits of horse and equestrian armor, including one worn by
Paris was officially chosen as the host of the Olympics in 2017, and Versailles was chosen as the venue for the equestrian events a few years later.
Olympic organizers and Versailles officials were both supportive of the idea of holding the events at Versailles. (“It was a very good collaboration,” says Salomé. “The contracts, the discussions, it was huge. It was hundreds of meetings, hundreds of pages of agreements. But it went really smoothly.”)
The biggest requirement is to ensure that the estate can be returned to its former state after the Games. More than 740 acres have been converted for the Games, with grandstands, a cross-country track, horse stables and other temporary infrastructure. Not a single tree will be cut down, officials said, and the site will be dismantled after the Paralympics end in September.
Germany’s Christian Kukuk, who won gold in the individual vault final, rides a victory lap against the backdrop of the Chateau de Versailles. Competitors at the venue say they try not to admire the view until after they’ve finished competing.
Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP via Getty Images
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Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP via Getty Images
“It’s magnificent. It’s majestic.”
Being part of the centuries-old heritage of equestrian life at Versailles is a “dream come true” for Italian equestrian Evelina Bertoli. “We are trying to keep horses in this sport for a long time. It won’t be easy, but we have to fight to keep this special animal until the end,” she said.
After competing in team and individual competitions, Bertoli decided to visit the palace, she said, taking a moment to stop on the terrace to admire the view. “Now, I’m facing the stadium, and I just feel the emotions,” she said.
Between the palace, the gardens and the rest of the vast estate and buildings, Versailles is so vast that in normal times, there’s almost always something being renovated. But for the Olympics, they decided that “everything had to be perfect,” Salome said.
As a result, visitors to the castle are now treated to a view of the castle at its finest. Even those who have seen it before, like Jacqueline Godet of Lyon, find themselves in awe.
“It’s magnificent. It’s majestic,” said Godet, standing with her husband Olivier on the terrace, with the Grand Canal stretching out before them and the Olympic venue on the far edge.
She said only France could host Olympic events in such a venue. “To highlight to the world a little bit what we have in France,” she added, making her feel proud to be French.
Article contributed by Fatima Al-Kassab.
