Restored Versailles Sun God adds gilt to Olympic equestrianism

PARIS

The Chateau of Versailles will provide one of the most elegant Olympic backdrops when the equestrian competitions canter through its famous park, but with less than four months to go to the Paris Games, it is a muddy building site.

The project has involved moving hundreds of tons of earth to build a 5.3km cross-country course and erecting temporary grandstands for spectators, but the centerpiece was the regilding of the spectacular Fountain of Apollo.

The pentathlon will also be held on the grounds.

On March 29, accompanied by baroque music, the gleaming restored statue of the Sun God, a symbol of the Sun King Louis XIV, was lowered back into the water at a media event.

The 1671 statue by Jean-Baptiste Tuby shows Apollo in a chariot drawn by four horses, flanked by his descendant Phaeton and dolphins.

Horses were an integral part of daily life at Versailles, the stables opposite the chateau housed 1,500 horses. They will be celebrated in an exhibition from July 2.

While earth movers are still preparing the 5.3km cross-country course that will wind through the park, the dressage and show-jumping arena is largely completed. Stands that will hold 6,300 are up.

Around "70 percent" of the work has been completed, said Lorick Joseph of the Olympic Organizing Committee at the unveiling.

A shaded 700-meter galloping track has been completed, as has a field for 200 horse boxes which Jean Morel, sporting director of the site, said would be "under air-conditioned tents."

The Olympic equestrian events will take place from July 27 to Aug. 6. The dressage events of the Paralympic Games will run from Sept. 3 to 7.

Versailles, a World Heritage Site, drew eight million visitors last year. After the Games, all the temporary infrastructure will have to be dismantled and the site restored to its historic state.