The Temple of Love

This is the Temple of Love, often called the most beautiful jewel in the gardens of the Petit Trianon. Emerging from the forest path to face this white marble temple feels like stepping through time into a grove of ancient Greece. Marie Antoinette built it on a small island in the middle of an artificial river.

Step inside and look up at the ceiling: carved at its center are a wreath of roses, a quiver, torches crossed in an X, and arrows bound with ribbon and woven with roses and olive leaves, all encircled by a hundred and twenty flower-shaped ornaments. Together, these motifs celebrate the triumph of love.

At the heart of the temple stands Cupid, the god of love, carving a bow from Hercules's club, with the lion that symbolizes Hercules lying at his feet. The message carved quietly into the stone is this: even the mightiest strength ultimately kneels before the power of love.

While Marie Antoinette sang of love here, ordinary people outside the palace walls were going hungry. Yet even this temple wasn't enough for her — she went on to build an entire world of her own imagining.