1. PALACE OF VERSAILLES

3. - In 1685, 36,000 people and 6,000 horses started the construction work of the 500 meters long palace, which took altogether 50 years. - When Chateau de Versailles was completed, it could accommodate up to 5,000 people, including servants. - When Chateau de Versailles was built, Versailles was only a country village. However, it has now developed into a suburb of Paris. FACTS

5. -The palace is one of the largest palaces in the world. It has more than 700 rooms, 2000 windows, 1250 fireplaces, 67 staircases and more than 1800 acres of park. -Records from the period indicate that the costs of construction (which were spread out over a considerable period of time) may have amounted to as much as 65 million gold livres (a coin of the period). If that is so then the cost in modern money would amount to some 300 billion dollars. FACTS

13. It was in the Hall of Mirrors, Chateau de Versailles, that the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919, after World War I.