A Closer Look at the Versailles Equestrian Stadium
It’s a beauty! Take a closer look at the newly-constructed temporary stadium that will house equestrian disciplines at the Olympics and Para Olympics in just over ten days:
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The finishing touches are being put on the newly-constructed temporary stadium at the Palace of Versailles grounds ahead of the Olympics, which begin in just under two weeks.
While we have yet to get an official look at the cross country course Pierre le Goupil has been hard at work designing, we’ll take these sneak peeks as they come!
The following excerpts are taken from an FEI press release, which can be read in full here.
Infrastructure
The cross country test will take place in wooded areas of the Park, along the banks of and across the Grand Canal. Visitors to the Park rarely walk through these areas and works to clear the woods had to be conducted. These have made them sounder and have improved their overall condition thus leaving a positive legacy for the estate.
The sports facilities as well as the grandstands put in place for the Olympic and Paralympic Games have been constructed with the greatest care to provide ease of access and comfort for the athletes, horses, support personnel, media and spectators. They have been built to showcase the picturesque setting without harming the exceptional historical heritage.
Stabling
The horses will be stabled by discipline at Paris 2024. All the stables will have spacious, comfortable boxes (4m x 3m) with rubber mats. Bedding – either straw or shavings – is all sourced in France. Each horse will be accompanied by a groom who will care for its comfort and well-being at all times, both in competition and in the stable.
There will be plenty of areas for the horses to go out and graze. The large surface of these areas will allow for good availability adapted to the number of horses present on the site at any one time.
Horses have been stabled at Versailles for centuries. The Great and Small Stables were commissioned by Louis XIV during the 17th century to accommodate the household’s horses and became the greatest royal construction project for housing horses ever undertake
More on the Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles is one of the great achievements in French art and architecture. It grew from being a small brick and stone hunting pavilion in the 17th century to the grandest palace in Europe during its heyday under Louis XIV, the Sun King. This magnificence estate remained the home of the French monarchy until the Revolution of 1789.
Since then, it has found a new role as Museum of the History of France and major tourist attraction. The Estate of Versailles is composed of the Palace, the gardens, the Park, the Trianon estate and several buildings in town. It spreads over more than 800 hectares – more than twice the size of New York City’s Central Park – while the Palace contains 2,300 rooms. The Palace of Versailles welcomes almost eight million visitors a year and is France’s third most visited attraction.
