The Palace of Versailles: secret passageways?

[Cuckoorex]

OK, I watched “The Man in the Iron Mask” (Irons/Malkovich/DiCaprio version) and thought that the Palace was incredible; now, obviously these were sets or recreations or something, but it got me wondering; does the real palace have all the secret passageways that were shown in the movie, or was that an entirely fictional creation?

[Cuckoorex]

OK, Wikipedia mentions one secret passageway:

Of all the features of the petit appartement de la reine, the so-called secret passage that links the grand appartement de la reine with the appartement du roi must be cited. The passage actually dates from the time the Marie-Thérèse and had always served as a private means by which the king and queen could communicate with each other.[27] It is true, however, that Marie-Antoinette, who was sleeping in the chambre de la reine in the grande appartement de reine, escaped from the Paris mob on the night of 6/7 October 1789. The entrance to the so-called secret passage is through a door located on the west side of the north wall of the chambre de la reine.

So apparently I should have just checked the Interweb first. Sorry!

[engineer_comp_geek]

A lot of palaces, castles, and general places for rich dudes have “secret” passages that are really there for servants to use so that the servants can go from one place to another without being seen.

I don’t know how extensive they are, but the Palace at Versailles does have secret passages. At least one was used by Marie Antoinette back in 1789.

On preview, I see that you’ve already discovered the Marie Antoinette incident.

[si_blakely]

I’m pretty sure that in Versailles (or maybe Fontainebleau) there were also rooms with hidden wardrobes and sitting rooms - the door has an unobtrusive handle and is decorated like the wall.

Subtle, not secret.

Si