☰Bosquet des Dômes

The Bosquet des Dômes takes its name from two white marble pavilions with domed roofs that once stood in this garden room, designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart around 1677. The pavilions were removed in the 18th century, but the bosquet was recently restored to something close to its original layout, with its central basin and the enclosing hornbeam hedges trimmed back into walls.

The garden's centrepiece is a basin decorated with bas-reliefs of sea monsters, tritons, and acanthus leaves, with a fountain at its centre. The enclosing hedges create a room that feels completely separate from the wider garden, which is the point: the bosquets were outdoor rooms where the court could gather in some privacy, away from the open parterres where everyone could see everyone else.

This northern section of the garden, between the Neptune fountain and the main axis, contains several bosquets clustered together — the Bosquet des Dômes, the Bosquet de l'Arc de Triomphe, and the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines. Walking through them in sequence, each one different, is one of the quieter pleasures of a Versailles visit.