The Staircase of Honor

The Staircase of Honor takes its name from the fact that, while the floor below housed guards and servants, the floor above was reserved for the queen and her invited guests alone. Simply being allowed to climb this staircase was proof that one had been chosen by the royal household.

The staircase's banister is a gilded work of art, crafted with great care by the finest artisans of the time. It bears a carved rooster's head, the symbol of France, with a monogram of the overlapping letters "MA" at its center — the initials of Marie Antoinette. Notably, the crest originally carved there belonged to Louis XV, who built the château. Marie Antoinette, as its new mistress, had the previous owner's mark erased and replaced with her own — a telling sign of her determination to do things her own way at the Petit Trianon, regardless of royal convention.