The Grande Écurie (Great Stables) is one of two massive stable buildings that face the palace across the Place d'Armes, designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in 1682. At their peak, the stables of Louis XIV housed 600 horses for the king's personal use alone, plus 200 for his official carriages — numbers that give some sense of the logistics of court life. The stable complex was, in its own way, as impressive an architectural statement as the palace.
Today the Grande Écurie houses the Académie du Spectacle Équestre and, in the older parts of the building, a horse museum. The architecture of the riding halls — high barrel vaults, stone columns, iron-grille windows — is extraordinary. Even without a performance, walking through the building is worth the time.
The Petite Écurie, across the square, was for the king's coaches and hunting horses. It now houses part of the École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Versailles and is not generally open to visitors, though the exterior is worth seeing as part of the overall Place d'Armes ensemble.