Americans restore fountains

last updated 8 January 2015

Versailles, France

Elaborate fountains at the Palace of Versailles spouted water this week for the first time in more than 200 years, thanks to private U.S. donations. The newly restored Bosquet des Trois Fontaines, a vast garden with three levels of fountains linked by waterfalls, is the only one of the palace’s 16 fountain complexes designed by King Louis XIV himself. It fell into disuse in the late 18th century, after the palace was overrun during the French Revolution. The American Friends of Versailles foundation managed to raise most of the $6.5 million to restore the fountains, despite the tension between France and the U.S. over the Iraq war. The foundation lobbied American donors by arguing that Versailles was not just a French monument, but a world treasure.