The glorious Château will always be the star of Versailles. The site attracts more than seven million visitors per year. But this royal city has its share of hidden gems, too. One place that’s certainly worth a visit is the former royal hospital: Hôpital Richaud. Little known to tourists, this majestic neoclassical building was constructed in the 18th century and houses a sumptuous chapel inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. It’s said that in this hospital the famous surgeon Charles Felix de Tassy practiced on human ‘volunteers’ before operating on Louis XIV’s ‘thigh tumour’, as it was called euphemistically at the time. In use until the 1970s, the site was then abandoned, only to be destroyed by later an enormous fire. It has since been gloriously renovated, and today the chapel is open to all.
Read more
