Palace of Versailles © Soliled
The Palace of Versailles is one of the most visited public attractions in France with more than six million visitors a year. They come to enjoy the 17th-century ornamental palace gardens with its majestic orange trees, canals, statues and fountains.
Pharos partner Soliled was contracted by Chateau de Versailles Spectacle and collaborated with lighting designers M. Laurent Fachard and M. Joseph Frey of Les Eclairagistes Associés to control 1431 light points throughout the palace and its adjoining park. The façade of the main palace and its geometrically aligned terraces are lit by custom-made fixtures with a pixel count of 900 and all are controlled by Pharos’ LPC X rack mount controller providing a multitude of effects.
Over 150 statues of marble, bronze and lead are also located throughout the gardens. 210 spots with intensive optics and 30 symmetrical luminaires are contained within these imposing statues to create a magnificent backdrop to this historical monument. These are programmed by system integrators Soliled to synchronise using Pharos’ Designer timeline technology.
Emerging from the water at the eastern end of the Grand Canal is Apollo’s chariot, pulled by rearing horses, to form a centerpiece of the regular musical fountains show. Underwater RGBW LEDs are controlled every weekend from late spring to early autumn to bring these spectacular images to life.