Parc Monceau, the romantic and unusual park in Paris
By My B., The editorial staff · Photos by My B. · Published on April 27, 2022 at 09:14
Parc Monceau, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful flowered parks in Paris, nestled between the 8th and 17th arrondissements, is an original and unusual park where ruins, artists’ sculptures and lush vegetation coexist. We take you on a tour to discover its history and its particularities.
For the record, the Parc Monceau is a former property of Duke of Chartres who had designated the design to the painter Carmontelle to make him one”land of illusion“.
Inaugurated in 1775, this park which was at first glance a pavilion surrounded by a French garden (which no longer exists today). It was designed as a pleasure garden that mixes antiquity, exoticism and the Middle Ages, like the reproduction of pyramid Egyptian and the Naumachia composed of its basin surrounded by columns Corinthians, who referred to representations of naval battles in Roman antiquity. These famous columns evidence of a church in Saint-Denis demolished in 1719.
In 1785, the Minister of Finance Charles-Alexander of Calonne decides to erect the wall of the Farmers General, a wall that was intended to delimit Paris and thus fight against smuggling. These walls are associated with Rotundas like the one we know today, made by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux. We were then at that time, on the outskirts of Paris.
Having become national property during the Revolution, it was returned to the Orléans family, but it did not remain in their hands for long. The State acquired it in 1852. The appearance of the park had then changed considerably. The financier Pereire had raised many mansions on the East, South and West sides, including the museums Cernuschi (Asian art) and Nissim de Camondo (18th century). Today they are part of the prestige of the Plaine Monceau district, but the park was then cut in half, going from 20 to 8 hectares Nowadays.
The drawings of the park were modified one last time by the engineer Alphand, the architect Davioud and the horticulturist Barillet-Deschamps, who worked under the orders of Baron Haussmann. In 1861, Napoleon III finally inaugurated the park that we know today.
In 1861, a bridge in the image of a Venetian bridge was born. This bridge in the original style is then made from stone imitating marble.
the Parc Monceau today one of most beautiful gardens in the capital. It is mentioned by a very diverse population, mothers and their children, tourists, joggers and by the Russian community who go to the nearby Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (1861).
Isolated by a green belt, sumptuous hotels and luxurious buildings, it is calm that reigns in this large park adorned with numerous marble statues of famous writers and musicians of the time. We discover in particular a historic plane tree, planted in 1814 of 7 meters in circumference and a 30-meter-high sycamore which is now the oldest and oldest in the district (1853).
Perfect for a romantic or family walk, this park offers a large number of places to rest and enjoy the good weather and the good atmosphere that reigns. However, gossips will say that it is a victim of its own success and that it is more and more complicated to make different types of people cohabit simply places picnic, walk, or play a game of football.
Finally, we cannot speak of the Parc Monceau not to mention its astonishing animal and plant diversity. It is the borough’s green space which has greatest diversity of birdsprovided by the height of the trees, as well as by the freshness offered by the basin in which carp and other goldfish swim.
Side schedulenote that the Parc Monceau opens from March 27 to April 30, 2022, daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., from May 1 to August 31, 2022, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., until 9 p.m. in September and again until 8 p.m. in October. The entrance to the park is via different accesses: Courcelles Blvd., Avenue Velasquez, Van Dycklaan and avenue Ruysdael.