In 1662, Louis XIV expanded the estate of Versailles by buying and razing the nearby hamlet of Trianon. In the winter and spring of 1669–1670, his chief architect, Louis Le Vau (1612–1670), erected three small pavilions surrounded by a large and magnificent garden. Even more so than Versailles itself, Trianon was designed as a pleasure palace; its primary purpose was to serve as a romantic retreat for the king and his new mistress, Madame de Montespan.

This bird’s-eye view from the west illustrates the location of Trianon in respect to the main palace (upper right) and the Château de Clagny (top center), built in 1674–1680 as an official residence for Montespan and her royal bastards.