Palace of Versailles to host equestrian events of Olympic Games

Versailles (France), Mar 29 (EFE).- (Camera: Edgar Sapiña Manchado) Just four months before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, the Palace of Versailles was decked out in gold on Friday with the reopening of the Apollo fountain, the most emblematic of this monumental site that will host the equestrian and modern pentathlon tournaments in Paris 2024.

Dozens of curious tourists gathered on Friday around this emblematic fountain - almost a hectare in size - to witness the moment when the water began to pour over the thirteen sculptures adorned with 35,000 gold leaves that make up the installation.

Since its commissioning in the second half of the 17th century during the reign of Louis XIV, the Apollo fountain has been "a never-ending work of restoration", said the architect in charge of the work, Jacques Moulin, at a presentation to the press.

SOUNDBITES OF JAQUES MOULIN, ARCHITECT IN CHARGE OF THE RESTORATION OF THE FOUNTAIN OF APOLLO AT THE PALACE OF VERSAILLES, ON THE REOPENING OF THE FOUNTAIN OF APOLLO AT THE PALACE OF VERSAILLES, FRANCE, AS WELL AS SOUNDBITES OF ANNE MURAC, HEAD OF THE ÎLE DE FRANCE CLUSTER FOR PARIS 2024.

TRANSLATIONS:

Jacques Moulin, architect responsible for the restoration of the Apollo fountain 2.

You get to know these sculptures and gardens so well that you think you have seen them before, but this is rarely the case. When we restore them, we have to dig up all the archives and find out some information about the creation of the estate and the fountain, for example. We are here at a time when Louis XIV was very young and settled in his father's garden. This garden ended with this huge pond that Louis XIII had created 20 years earlier. And Louis XIV was not going to rethink his father's gardens, he was going to move into them. And he was going to decorate them. Colbert imposed enormous restrictions on this decoration. The king was almost entitled to one fountain a year, and this was in fact what was to happen, starting with the Fountain of the Dragon, then the Fountain of Latton and finally the Fountain of the Chariot of Apollo, the largest fountain in the central basin. It is sometimes thought that this rediscovery of the evolution of the domain is a magic wand waving Versailles. It is 50 years of Louis XIV's work and we are here at the dawn of the creation of the extraordinary decoration of the domain.

2. Jacques Moulin, architect responsible for the restoration of the Apollo Fountain

The corresponding techniques had to be invented. The first of these techniques was lead sculpture.

All previous sculptures and fountains, including those at Versailles, were always made of marble or bronze. But to sculpt a marble of this size, to cast a bronze of this volume, takes years.

Louis could not afford it and asked his teams to adapt an old French technique that had existed for centuries on the roofs of cathedrals. These were large lead sculptures. For the first time, fountains were made of lead, because lead could be melted in a few weeks.

3. Jacques Moulin, architect responsible for the restoration of the Apollo Fountain

Restoration work never ends, it is a never-ending quest. Today we are going to do even better, and you are going to see the fountains. We took stock of them recently.

It is still a work in progress. Next year they will be even more beautiful, even more in keeping with the shapes of the water, the aquatic sculpture that this fountain offered when it was in operation.

4. Anne Murac, head of the Ile de France cluster for Paris 2024

We are in a place called the Menagerie basin, which will be a ford, a waterfall. It will be an obstacle for the cross-country day, which will take place on Sunday 28 July. The cross-country is a complete competition that brings together 3 disciplines: dressage, jumping and the famous cross-country.

During the day, the riders will ride 5.5 km through the park, where they will encounter various obstacles made of logs with quite exceptional designs for the Olympic Games, and that is part of the competition, So it is part of one of the 3 disciplines behind me, we have what you cannot see, a fountain that still has no water in it and that is currently being restored because the Palace of Versailles wants to be able to present its park and its site in the most extraordinary way. So we are preparing for the arrival of the Olympic Games by restoring certain areas like this, because the horses will cross the fountain behind me and it will be one of the obstacles, so we are incorporating the architecture of the Château de Versailles into our competition.

5. Anne Murac, head of the Ile de France cluster for Paris 2024

Before doing anything, as we are on a protected site, we obviously have to comply with the compulsory studies and instructions, because we can't just do anything on this historic site. So we went through all the mandatory phases, especially the architectural, pyrotechnical and archaeological phases, to make sure that there was nothing extraordinary under our feet that we could damage. So we went through all these phases and now that all these studies have been completed, we have the authorisations and the Palace of Versailles is working with us on a daily basis on these initiatives to prepare the competition site for the event.

6. Anne Murac, head of the Ile de France cluster for Paris 2024

We are working on it. It is a job that we have been doing for years, that we have planned and with the Palace of Versailles, with whom we work on a daily basis, and the GL Events teams with whom we work on a daily basis, we have staggered all these phases and I would like to thank the Palace of Versailles for opening its doors to us a little bit earlier than planned. We had quite a wet winter in terms of weather, but fortunately we were able to arrive ahead of schedule. We are on schedule.

7. Anne Murac, Ile de France cluster manager for Paris 2024

Perhaps the biggest challenge is to imagine, as you will see later with the main grandstand, being able to level the ground to be able to set up the equestrian races, the warm-up tracks and the main track. But we will see more on that later.

8. Anne Murac, head of the Ile de France cluster for Paris 2024

Today we are at the heart of the matter, so to speak, in the main track, which will host more than 250 horses, 200 riders and then the athletes of the modern pentathlon, 72 men and 72 women.

This main arena will host 16,300 spectators and will be the venue for the competitions, including the show jumping and dressage events, as well as the show jumping, dressage and para-equestrian competitions of the Paralympic Games.

It is a special place. Why is it special? Because it is the Place de l'Etoile Royale. (André) Le Nôtre designed this royal star in the time of Louis XIV.

You must know that in Paris, the Place de l'Etoile that everybody knows with the Arc de Triomphe has exactly the same dimensions and the same number of aisles. So this is the first version of what we call the "étoile" in Paris, but here is the Royal Star.

9. Anne Murac, head of the Ile de France cluster for Paris 2024

We have been working for many years on the planning and installation of the grandstand that you see here and the various riding arenas that you have seen before. And what is interesting to know is that we first worked on the floors because they were not flat, and for a riding arena, obviously, equine athletes have to be able to jump on a flat track. So we did a lot of work to level the ground and to be able to install all the drainage systems, because you can't see it yet, because it's not finished, but it's a riding arena that will collect rainwater and regenerate and supply water. So there is a drainage system underneath that you won't be able to see, but in any case it's just a question of specifying the characteristics of this riding arena, which is 75 m by 110 m and which, depending on the competition calendar, will be transformed into a jumping arena or a dressage arena.

We have an incredible view of the Château de Versailles and its Grand Canal, and not many people know the end of the château grounds. And there we have the most beautiful backdrop imaginable, with the Château de Versailles in the background to showcase the best riders in the world.