<P> In the early seventeenth century, Gondi invited Louis XIII on several hunting trips in the forests surrounding Versailles . Pleased with the location, Louis ordered the construction of a hunting lodge in 1624 . Designed by Philibert Le Roy, the structure, a small château, was constructed of stone and red brick, with a based roof . Eight years later, Louis obtained the seigneury of Versailles from the Gondi family and began to make enlargements to the château . </P> <P> A vignette of Versailles from the 1652 Paris map of Jacques Gomboust (fr) shows a traditional design: an entrance court with a corps de logis on the far western end, flanked by secondary wings on the north and south sides, and closed off by an entrance screen . Adjacent exterior towers were located at the four corners, with the entire structure surrounded by a moat . This was preceded by two service wings, creating a forecourt with a grilled entrance marked by two round towers . The vignette also shows a garden on the western side of the château with a fountain on the central axis and rectangular planted parterres to either side . </P> <P> Louis XIV had played and hunted at the site as a boy . With a few modifications, this structure would become the core of the new palace . </P> <P> Louis XIII's successor, Louis XIV, had a great interest in Versailles . He settled on the royal hunting lodge at Versailles, and over the following decades had it expanded into one of the largest palaces in the world . Beginning in 1661, the architect Louis Le Vau, landscape architect André Le Nôtre, and painter - decorator Charles Lebrun began a detailed renovation and expansion of the château . This was done to fulfill Louis XIV's desire to establish a new centre for the royal court . Following the Treaties of Nijmegen in 1678, he began to gradually move the court to Versailles . The court was officially established there on 6 May 1682 . </P>

The purposes of the royal court at versailles