For nearly 500 years, the Tuileries Park, located in the center of Paris, has been a natural "oxygen bar" that has always brought fresh and pleasant natural breath to people. It was once the playground of French monarchs and little princes. Louis XIII hunted ducks and birds here when he was a child, and Napoleon I's only son ran and played on the garden paths. Today, Tuileries Park is still an ideal place for relaxing walks.

The history of Tuileries Park

Tuileries Park dates back to 1564. At that time, Queen Catherine de 'Medici, widow of King Henry II of France, missed her home in Florence and ordered a palace with a garden to be built near the Louvre, referring to the Italian Renaissance palace design, and the site was chosen outside the Paris city wall at that time, surrounded by many medieval tile factories. The new palace also got its name (" Tuileries "is a transliteration of the French word for" tile factory ").

In 1664, the gardens of the Tuileries were redesigned by Andre Le Notre, Louis XIV's chief landscaper, and were opened to a select group of people. Since then, it has been transformed several times, and during the reigns of Napoleon I and his nephew Napoleon III, part of it was also set aside as a royal private court. Since 1871, the entire garden has been open to all members of the public.

In 1871, during the Commune of Paris, the Tuileries Palace, as a symbol of royal power and imperial power, was burned down by rioters and has never been rebuilt, only this imperial garden has survived to this day.

In 1990, the French government organized a design competition for the renovation of Tuileries Park. French landscape architects Pascal Cribier and Louis Benech took the top prize, bringing a new modern look to this ancient garden.

Andre Lenott's "Home"

Andre Le Norte designed the gardens of the Tuileries Palace and then Versailles. His father and grandfather were both horticulturists for the King of France. He himself was born in a mansion in the Tuileries Gardens, where he lived until his death. Nothing remains of the apartment. Le Norte designed the gardens of the Tuileries Palace as three large parts connected back to back. This structure has not changed in the centuries since.

Walk in the Park Trilogy

Grand Carre

In the tradition of French garden design, the part closest to the palace is mainly used for viewing from the window. Known as the Grand Square Court, it is dotted with classic pools and flowerbeds, embroidered with boxwood hedges, while simple, long flowerbeds provide a stage for the imagination and creativity of modern gardeners.

Grand Couvert

Through the colorful flower bed, came to the shadow of the trees dancing shady area. Lenorte has planted eight groups of small, symmetrical broadleaf forests, each creating a different atmosphere, perfect for leisurely strolling. The main road of Tuileries Park cuts through the tree-lined area, and you can look west all the way to the Champs Elysees. At that time, it was Le Norte who planted a row of trees on the extension line of the Tuileries Palace, making the rural area become the most beautiful and famous Champs-Elysees in Paris today.

Horseshoe observation deck (Fer a cheval) with terrace

The last part of Tuilery Park is an open space with a large octagonal pool in the center, and viewing platforms on either side that ramp up slowly to form a horseshoe that leads to a terrace that wraps around the park. The terrace on the side of the Seine River acts as a dike to protect the park when the river rises. In order to maintain the symmetrical layout, the terrasse des Feuillants has been built on the opposite side of Rivoli Street.

Open-air museum

Since the 18th century, Tuileries Park has been dotted with sculptures and vases, which have increased or decreased with the evolution of taste in each era. Today, some modern and contemporary museums also lend many sculptures generously. As a result, when walking through the garden, one can admire the works of the great masters of sculpture from the 17th century to the present day, Such as Antoine Coysevox, Rodin, Jean Dubuffet (Jean Dubuffet), Giuseppe Penone (Giuseppe Penone), Louise Bourgeois (Louise Bourgeois) and so on.

The sculptures are maintained on a daily basis by professional art restorers. The most fragile marble sculptures were moved to the Louvre and exhibited in the Marley and Pigge atriums of the Richelieu. Reproductions of these sculptures continue to adorn Tuileries Park instead of the originals.

Visual illusion
Viewed from the ruins of the Tuileries Palace, the four pools in the park appear to be the same size. In fact, the Octagonal pool at the end of the main road is twice as large as the nearby round pool. With the advancement of the decoration project, this unique perspective effect continues to extend from the Arc de Caruso in the east to the obelisk of the Place de la Concorde, the Arc de Triomphe and the Star Square in the west, to the new Arc de Triomphe in La Defense, linking several important landscapes in Paris. This shows that Le Norte is really a master of geometry!

Tuileries Park and Louvre Exhibition

Since 2005, the Louvre Museum has taken over the management and beautification of Tuileries Park. Each spring and summer, the horticulturists design new flower beds based on the Louvre's cultural program to complement the exhibitions or major events of the season.