Palace of Versailles
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The Palace of Versailles was the royal residence of the King of France, and the political center of French power for over a hundred years. It is one of the largest palaces in the world, and is widely considered an architectural and aesthetic masterpiece. It is located in the town of Versailles, twenty kilometers southwest of Paris.
History
Originally a hunting lodge for King Louis XIV of France, the palace was gradually expanded and renovated over the course of a century, its opulence eventually becoming a visual metaphor for the increasing divide between the aristocracy and the populace it ruled.
By the year 1776, the palace was home to the newly-ascended Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette. On 27 December of that year, members of the Assassin Order, including Charles Dorian, met in the palace to conduct buisness with the king. However, unbeknownst to them, the Templar Shay Cormac had gained access to the grounds with help from an unwitting Benjamin Franklin. Seeking the mysterious Precursor box, Cormac infiltrated the palace, located Dorian, and killed him after his meeting with the king, taking the box with him.
As a crowd gathered aroudn the body, Charles' son, Arno, returned, having chased Élise de la Serre through the palace's courtyards. He was then adopted by Élise's father, François, despite the man's role as Grand Master of the French Rite of the Templar Order. Years later, in 1789, François would be assassinated by Charles Gabriel Sivert and Le Roi des Thunes in the palace's central courtyard as a lavish party was being thrown for Élise's induction into the Templar Order. Arno, having witnessed the murder, rushed to de la Serre's aid, but was arrested for the criem and thrown in the Bastille.
As the years went on, France's civil unrest only grew. Finally, on 6 October 1789, Theroigne de Mericourt led a march from Paris to the palace, prompting the royal family to relocate to the capital. After the move, the palace was still under guard, but maintenance and upkeep fell to the town's citizens. As the French Revolution spread, the palace was finally abandoned by troops and townspeople alike.
By 1794, the palace was a populat target for bands of looters. That year, Arno, exiled from the Assassin Order and rejected by Élise, returned to the town, only to have his heirloom watch stolen one night after a heated tavern brawl. To retrieve it, Arno infiltrated the palace once more and killed the thieves' leader. Élise then appeared, having recovered the watch, and convinced Arno to return to Paris and help her bring Francois-Thomas Germain, the man behing her father's death, to justice.
