In 1669 a quaint hunting lodge a few miles outside of Paris was designated to become one of the grandest, most beautiful, and most elaborate castles that the world has ever seen. The Palace Versailles helped to establish King Louis XIV as a Grand Monarch, and was the rule with which other palaces were measured. The single act of creation on the part of Louis XIV propelled him into the annals of history as not only a great leader and politician, but an accomplished architect as well. Versailles stands today as a testament of the grandeur and audacity of the Baroque period in European history, and its lasting affect on our modern day.
             La Château Versailles was a mammoth work of a cross between classical and baroque styles. Its exterior is decorated in very classical styling, but its sheer magnitude displays its ties to the Baroque period of art and architecture. The style in which it was constructed was surely nothing new to the people of France, what was distinct about it was the size. If Versailles had been 100 meters wide instead of nearly six times that, it would have simply been another chateau. But because of its size the Palace Versailles has become one of the most studied and beloved palaces in the world. It is a singular example of the French's ability to meld to seemingly opposite ideas into one magnificent piece of architecture.
             Was it necessary for the king to create such a palace? It really is funny that the king saw the need to construct such a spectacle. It was well known that his construction of the palace was in a desire to show his enemies and critics that he was all powerful. Louis XIV was, at the time of construction, one of the most powerful men on earth. Yet in what would seem to be an almost paranoid state of mind he designed and ordered the building of a palace so large in scale that it would leave little doubt in anyone's mind whom the king truly was.
             The idea that possession is power is...