Paris Weekend Break

Parc des Buttes Chaumont

The Parc des Buttes Chaumont is one of several large parks in Paris and one that is certainly worth a visit. The park offers great views over Paris including the stunning Sacre Coeur and this makes it one of the Parisians' favourite leisure areas.

The park is ideal for a walk or a picnic and its position, projecting out from a location on a rocky hill, means that it has great panoramic views across Paris.

The site of the Parc des Buttes Chaumont has an unusual and sometimes gruesome history. At one time the area now occupied by the park was used for executions and was equipped with gallows. In later times it became a quarry and later still something close to a refuse are.

In 1862 however, things changed and the land was acquired by the city of Paris where upon Napoleon III instructed that a park be built that could be accessed by all.

Now, in a mainly working class zone the park offered a peaceful refuge and a place of relaxation for many of the city' manual workers who lived in this once depressed zone of the city.

Park design

The Parc des Buttes Chaumont was designed by Baron Haussmann and a landscape architect called Adolphe Alphand and it took four years of planning and landscaping to complete. Upon completion, the park was officially opened for the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1867.

The construction of the park required a massive amount of work and earth movement and saw dynamite used to create dramatic contours and effect.

Within the main park there are special areas like a "romantic park" with a 30 metre high waterfall cascading into a lake below. There is also the Sybille temple, which is a small temple modelled upon the Roman Temple of Sybil in Tivoli.

In total, the park occupies almost 25 hectares (over 60 acres) and its other features include, a grotto, a suspension bridge and 5km (3 miles) of scenic walks that display the parks lawns and abundance of plants, shrubs and trees.

Getting to the Parc des Buttes Chaumont

The park is situated in the 19th arrondissement (Rue Botzaris). There are 2 metro stations at Botzaris and Buttes Chaumont.