Montsouris
Encyclopedia
XIVe arrondissement
The 14th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France....
of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, on the rive gauche
Rive Gauche
La Rive Gauche is the southern bank of the river Seine in Paris. Here the river flows roughly westward, cutting the city in two: looking downstream, the southern bank is to the left, and the northern bank is to the right....
(left bank of the River Seine.) The park is fifteen hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
s in area, and it is styled as an English garden
English garden
The English garden, also called English landscape park , is a style of Landscape garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical Garden à la française of the 17th century as the principal gardening style of Europe. The...
, a genre popular since the early 19th century. The park was ordained by Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann
Baron Haussmann
Georges-Eugène Haussmann, commonly known as Baron Haussmann , was a French civic planner whose name is associated with the rebuilding of Paris...
as part of a plan to add green areas to Paris.
The park is bounded to the south by the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris
Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris
The Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris , also known under its abbreviation of CIUP or often as Cité U among Parisiens, is a private park and foundation located in Paris, France...
(CIUP), to the north and east by residential flats, and to the west by the residential district along the avenue Général Leclerc.
The water reservoir in the northeast portion of the park covers an historic entrance to the Paris catacombs.
Cité Universitaire Stop on RER B
RER B
The RER B is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving :Paris, France.The line runs from the northern termini Aéroport Charles de Gaulle and Mitry-Claye to the southern termini Robinson and Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse ....
(a main north-south train route running from Charles de Gaulle airport to the southern suburbs) is inside Parc Montsouris. It is distinguished by an open-air top and overhanging trees.
Etymology of "Montsouris"
According to the Park's official site maintained by the French government, the area was originally called moque souris (literally translated as "mock mice") because the area was inhabited by rodents. The name eventually evolved into Montsouris.Trees, shrubs and statues
The Parc Montsouris is a popular place for students from the adjacent Cité Universitaire. The main upper lawn was used once for a golf tournament. In the lower section of the park, an island in the middle of a tiny lake provides sanctuary to forty species of wild ducks, geese, herons, and other migratory birds. Some turtles imported from Florida, regularly sunbathe on the lake's stony shores.According to Montsouris's chief gardener, there are about 150 species of trees and shrubs in the park.
The most common trees are:
- Horse-Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum)
- Common Yew (Taxus baccataTaxus baccataTaxus baccata is a conifer native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest Asia. It is the tree originally known as yew, though with other related trees becoming known, it may be now known as the English yew, or European yew.-Description:It is a small-...
) - Cedar (Cedrus)
- Weeping beech (Fagus sylvatica tortuosa)
- Buttonwood (PlatanusPlatanusPlatanus is a small genus of trees native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae....
)
The rarer species include:
- Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)
- Silk tree (Albizia julibrissinAlbizia julibrissinAlbizia julibrissin is a species of legume in the genus Albizia, native to southwestern and eastern Asia, from Persia east to China and Korea...
) - Honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos)
- Princess tree (Paulownia tomentosaPaulownia tomentosaPaulownia tomentosa is a deciduous tree in the genus Paulownia, native to central and western China, but invasive in the US...
) - Pride of India(KoelreuteriaKoelreuteriaKoelreuteria is a genus of three species in the family Sapindaceae, native to southern and eastern Asia.They are medium-sized deciduous trees growing to 10–20 m tall, with spirally arranged pinnate or bipinnate leaves. The flowers are small and yellow, produced in large branched panicles...
bipinnata)
The most common shrubs are:
- Spindle (EuonymusEuonymusEuonymus , often called spindle or spindle tree, is a genus of flowering plants in the staff vine family, Celastraceae. It comprises about 170–180 species of deciduous and evergreen shrubs and small trees...
) - Mahonia (MahoniaMahoniaMahonia is a genus of about 70 species of evergreen shrubs in the family Berberidaceae, native to eastern Asia, the Himalaya, North America and Central America. They are closely related to the genus Berberis. Botanists disagree on the acceptability of the genus name Mahonia...
) - Boxwood (BuxusBuxusBuxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood ....
) - Aucuba (AucubaAucubaAucuba is a genus of three to ten species of flowering plants, now placed in the family Garryaceae, although formerly classified in the Aucubaceae or Cornaceae....
) - Viburnum rhytidophyllum (ViburnumViburnumViburnum is a genus of about 150–175 species of shrubs or small trees in the moschatel family, Adoxaceae. Its current classification is based on molecular phylogeny...
) - Tinus (Laurustinus Viburnum)
Sculptures in bronze and marble include:
- "Column of the Armed Peace" by Jules-Felix CoutanJules-Felix CoutanJules-Felix Coutan was a French sculptor and educator.- Life :As a student at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Coutan was awarded the Prix de Rome in 1872; after his return to Paris he executed the fountain group France Bearing the Torch of Civilization for the Exposition Universelle , one of the two...
(1887) - "First thrill" by René Baucour (1921)
- "Lion's death" by Edmond Desca (1929)
- "Women bathers" by Maurice Lipsi (1952)
- "Shipwrecked" by Antoine ÉtexAntoine ÉtexAntoine Étex was a French sculptor, painter and architect. He was born in Paris.He first exhibited in the Paris Salon of 1833, his work including a reproduction in marble of his "Death of Hyacinthus", and the plaster cast of his "Cain and his race cursed by God"...
(1859) - "Desert drama" by Georges GardetGeorges GardetGeorges Gardet was a French sculptor and animalier.The son of a sculptor, Gardet attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in the atelier of Aimé Millet and Emmanuel Fremiet...
(1891) - "Purity" by Costas ValsamisCostas ValsamisCostas Valsamis born in 1908 in the Greek island of Symi, Dodecanese - Athens 2003, was a Greek Sculptor.- Biography :In 1932 he entered the Athens School of Fine Arts.His professor is Costas Dimitriadis.He finished his studies in 1937....
(1955) - "Mine accident" by Henri BouchardHenri BouchardHenri Bouchard , was a French sculptor.The son of a carpenter, Bouchard was born in Dijon. He was educated at the Académie Julian and in the studio of Louis-Ernest Barrias before entering the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He took the Prix de Rome in 1901...
(1900) - "Monument commemorating Colonel Flatters" by Singery
- "Statue of General San Martin" by Van Peborgh (1960)
External links
- Parc Montsouris — Postcards of the park from the beginning of the 20th century.
- Official website
- Visiting the Park
- Architecture around the Park
- Trees and shrubs