Gardens of Versailles by photosynthesis

Photography • Scenic • posted on Jun 05, 2012

Open full image in new tab Zoom on image

Hover over top left image to zoom.
Click anywhere to exit.

Members remain the original copyright holder in all their materials here at Renderosity. Use of any of their material inconsistent with the terms and conditions set forth is prohibited and is considered an infringement of the copyrights of the respective holders unless specially stated otherwise.

Description

The gardens at Versailles are an amazing sight. A major engineering challenge was supplying water to the huge number of fountains. The Wikipedia article on the gardens goes into great detail about them (too much to quote here), but here's an excerpt: "In addition to the meticulous manicured lawns, parterres of flowers, and sculptures are the fountains, which are located throughout the garden. Dating from the time of Louis XIV and still using much of the same network of hydraulics as was used during the Ancien Régime, the fountains contribute to making the gardens of Versailles unique. On weekends from late spring to early autumn, the administration of the museum sponsors the Grandes Eaux – spectacles during which all the fountains in the gardens are in full play. Statistical Information on the gardens of Versailles: Size:800 hectares Number of trees:200,000 Flowers planted annually:210,000 Number of fountains:50 Number of jets of water:620 Surface area of the Grand Canal:23 hectares Perimeter of the Grand Canal:5.57 km Amount of piping to feed the fountains:35 km. Amount of water consumed by the fountains during the ‘‘Grandes Eaux’’:3,600 m3 Today, the museum of Versailles is still faced with water problems. During the Grandes Eaux, water is circulated by means of modern pumps from the Grand Canal to the reservoirs. Replenishment of the water lost due to evaporation comes from rainwater, which is collected in cisterns that are located throughout the gardens and diverted to the reservoirs and the Grand Canal. Assiduous husbanding of this resource by museum officials prevents tapping into the supply of potable water of the city of Versailles." Postworked with Luminance HDR. Please zoom...