Parks and gardens of Napoleon III .281852.E2.80.931870.29 History of parks and gardens of Paris

1 parks , gardens of napoleon iii (1852–1870)

1.1 bois de boulogne (1852–1858)
1.2 bois de vincennes (1860–1865)
1.3 parc des buttes-chaumont (1864–1867)
1.4 parc montsouris (1865-1878)

parks , gardens of napoleon iii (1852–1870)

music in tuilieries gardens, edouard manet (1862). parks of paris, particularly tuileries gardens , new bois de boulogne, provided entertainment , relaxation classes of parisians during second empire.



sunday promenade in bois de boulogne, henri evenepoel (1890s)

napoleon iii became first elected president of france overwhelming vote in 1848. when not run re-election, organized coup d état in december 1851 , had himself declared emperor of french in december 1852. 1 of first priorities emperor build new parks , gardens paris, particularly in neighborhoods far center, few public parks of city located.

napoleon iii named georges-eugene haussmann new prefect of seine in 1853, , commissioned him build new parks. haussmann assembled remarkable team: jean-charles alphand, city s first director of new service of promenades , plantations; jean-pierre barillet-deschamps, city s first gardener-in-chief; eugène belgrand, hydraulic engineer rebuilt city s sewers , water supply, , provided water needed parks; , gabriel davioud, city s chief architect, designed chalets, temples, grottos, follies, fences, gates, lodges, lampposts , other park architecture.

over course of seventeen years, napoleon iii, haussmann , alphand created 1,835 hectares of new parks , gardens, , planted more 6 hundred thousand trees, greatest expansion of paris green space before or since. built 4 major parks in north, south, east , west of city, replanted , renovated historic parks, , added dozens of small squares , gardens, no 1 lived more ten minutes park or square. in addition, planted tens of thousands of trees along new boulevards haussmann created, reaching out center outer neighborhoods.

the bois de boulogne (1852–1858)

the artificial grand cascade , grotto of bois de boulogne



the kiosk of emperor, on island in lower lake in bois de boulogne, monument in paris named napoleon iii.

the bois de boulogne scrubby forest west of city, german, russian , british occupation armies had camped after napoleon s defeat , had cut down of older trees.

in 1852 napoleon iii had land transferred list of imperial property city of paris, , bought plots of private land within park. had lived long years in exile in london, , had visited london s hyde park, serpentine lake , winding paths. became model first major new park. thousands of workers began digging artificial lakes , brought boulders forest of fontainebleau build artificial cascade. belgrand, hydraulic engineer, built special conduit ourq canal, dug artesian wells, , laid 66 kilometers of pipes provide water future lakes, lawns , flowerbeds. alphand laid out 95 kilometers of new roads, riding trails , paths winding through park. gardeners seeded 273 hectares of lawn , planted 420,000 trees.

the park intended provide recreation parisians; besides roads carriages , paths horses , walking, davioud built twenty-four chalets , pavilions around park, served restaurants, cafes, theaters, , places of entertainment. twenty hectares set aside garden , zoo, jardin d acclimatation. in 1857 1 corner of park became site of hippodrome de longchamp, city s important horse racing track. during winter, lake became popular destination ice-skating. opening, park full of parisians of classes.

the bois de vincennes (1860–1865)

the temple of love on lac daumesnil in bois de vincennes (1865)



fountains in bois de vincennes during 1931 colonial exposition

the bois de vincennes royal hunting preserve , site of important royal residence, chateau de vincennes, still existing. after louis xiv moved royal residence versailles, chateau neglected. under louis xv, chateau redesigned, , walking paths created in forest. during french revolution, center of park turned military training ground, firing ranges artillery , muskets. during restoration, louis-philippe took 170 acres of forest , built barracks , military offices.

in 1860 napoleon iii ceded large part of forest city of paris , alphand began turn place relaxation , recreation working-class population of eastern paris. of land in center of park retained military, haussmann obliged buy additional private land around perimeter of park, making bois de vincennes more expensive build; bois de vincennes cost 12 million francs, while bois de boulogne cost 3.46 million francs. covering 995 hectares, larger bois de boulogne, making largest park in city. had done in bois de boulogne, alphand designed , dug twenty-five hectares of lakes, rivers, waterfalls , grottos. city s chief gardener, barillet-deschamps, planted 3 hundred hectares of lawns , 1 hundred forty-eight hectares of flower beds. hydraulic engineer belgrand built water channel marne river, , pumps hoist water thirty-five meters lake in park, served water park , fill lakes, streams , cascades. davioud decorated new park fantasy temples, cafes kiosks , chalets. park completed addition of racetrack, hippodrome de vincennes, in 1863, public firing range pistols, rifles, , archery; , imperial farm, orchards, fields, sheep , cows, urban residents of paris see real farm @ work

the bois de vincennes site of cycling events of 1900 olympics, in forty-thousand seat stadium built event. park site of 2 large colonial expositions, in 1907 , 1931, celebrating peoples , products france s empire. several vestiges of exhibits remain, including old pavilion of french cameroon, converted buddhist temple , institute in 1977. paris zoo built 1931 exposition, , moved in 1934 present location in east of park, next sixty-five meter high man-made mountain, inhabited alpine goats.

parc des buttes-chaumont (1864–1867)

the site of parc des buttes-chaumont in 1852



the lawns of parc des buttes-chaumont on sunny day

the parc des buttes-chaumont, twenty-seven hectares in size in north of city, unpromising site garden; soil poor, , land bare of vegetation; original name chauvre-mont or bald hill. in medieval times, close site of gibbet, corpses of excited criminals displayed. 1789 served sewage dump, , of site had been used stone quarry

alphand began build in 1864. 2 years , 1 thousand workers required terrace site , bring in 2 hundred thousand square meters of topsoil. small railroad line built carry earth. gunpowder used blast rock, , sculpt 50-meter-high central promontory. 2 hectare lake dug @ foot of promontory. alphand laid out 5 kilometers of paths , roads, , belgrand installed pumps , pipes hoist water ourq canal supply cascades , lake , water new gardens. davioud designed grotto, using tunnels of old stone quarry; circular temple, based on temple of vesta, tivoli, crown promontory, 4 bridges span lake. park opened in april 1, 1867, opening day of paris universal exposition.

an urban legend says bodies of communards killing during suppression of 1871 paris commune entombed inside old stone quarries in promentory. in fact 754 bodies placed there briefly short time after fighting ended, buried in city cemeteries afterwards.

parc montsouris (1865-1878)

the palais de bardo landmark of parc montsouris until burned down in 1991



the lake of parc montsouris

parc montsouris last of 4 large parks created napoleon iii @ 4 cardinal points of compass around paris. precisely south of exact center of paris- monument in park placed napoleon indicated prime meridian french maps used until 1911, instead of greenwich, 0 degree of longitude. napoleon iii decreed construction of park in 1865, purchasing land took time, , work did not begin until 1867. work delayed because several hundred corpses had been placed in catacombs of paris, part of lay under park, had moved. park inaugurated in 1869, not finished until 1878, under alphand, continued work director of public works of paris under third french republic.

parc montsouris, 15.5 hectares in area, had elements of classical second empire garden in smaller space; lake, cascade, winding paths, cafe, guignol theater, lawns , flower beds. had remarkable folly: palais de bardo, reduced-scale replica of summer residence of beys of tunis, had been part of paris universal exposition of 1867. made of wood , stucco, installed in center of park, served weather station, gradually suffered vandalism , neglect. burned down in 1991, , not replaced.