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 par...

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 tonnes of earth to build a 5.3km cross-country course and erecting temporary grandstands for spectators, but the centrepiece was the regilding of the spectacular Fountain of Apollo.

The pentathlon will also be held on the grounds.

On Friday, 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.