Jardin des Tuileries - Paris, France
Posted by: 
manchanegra
N 48° 51.882 E 002° 19.404
31U E 450378 N 5412635
The Tuileries Garden is a public garden located between the Louvre Museum and the Place de la Concorde in Paris, created by Catherine de Medicis.
Waymark Code: WMCY05
Location: Île-de-France, France
Date Posted: 10/24/2011
Views: 59
The Tuileries Garden is a public garden located between the Louvre Museum and the Place de la Concorde in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. Created by Catherine de Medicis as the garden of the Tuileries Palace in 1564, it was first opened to the public in 1667, and became a public park after the French Revolution. In the 19th and 20th century, it was the place where Parisians celebrated, met, promenaded, and relaxed.
In the early 16th century all the area was a clay quarry where several workers made tiles (tuilerie in French, hence the name). After the death of her husband Henri II in 1559, Catherine de Médicis had a Palace built at the tuileries, the Palais de Tuileries. The palace featured a large garden in Italian style, reminding her of her native Tuscany.
Between 1660 and 1664 the garden was redesigned in French formal style by André Le Nôtre, the famous gardener of the Sun King, renown for his design of the Versailles Palace gardens. Le Nôtre built a terrace along the riverbank and opened up a central axis which he extended three years later with the creation of the Champs-Elysées.
The Jardin des Tuileries was the first Royal Garden to open to the public and it quickly became a place to see and be seen. Even in the 18th century the park featured amenities such as cafes, kiosks, deck chairs and public toilets.
The Palais des Tuileries, situated near the Arc du Carrousel, was razed in 1871 by the Communards, opening up the view from the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe as it can be seen today.
The garden has been renovated during the time but Le Nôtre's design of the Tuileries has been kept intact. At the same time the park was separated from car traffic. Many modern sculptures were added and in 1999 and the Passerelle de Solférino, a footbridge across the Seine opened, linking the Tuileries with the Musée d'Orsay on the other bank.
It also features several fountains, two large basins, numerous sculptures and two museums, the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume and the Musée de l'Orangerie, which displays Claude Monet's large water lily paintings . Those two buildings are the only remains of the original Palais de Tuileries.
Text adapted from "wikipedia" and a "view on cities dot com"
Name of Source Book: 1,000 Places to See Before You Die September 2003 edition.
Page Location in Source Book: 117
Type of Waymark: Site
Location of Coordinates: NW entrance near the "horseshoe"
Cost of Admission (Parks, Museums, etc.): 0.00 (listed in local currency)
List Available Hours, Dates, Season:
April-September : 7.30am-9pm;
July-August : 7.30am-11.45pm
Saturday-Sunday : until 0.45am;
October-March : 7.30am-7.30pm.
Official Tourism Website: [Web Link]
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Visit Instructions:
Because of the vastness of many of the "non-localized" sites (Gobi Desert, Great Wall of China), waymark owners are encouraged to allow visits that reflect different perspectives and experiences.
Localized waymark sites (Structures, Landmarks, Businesses) should reflect standard waymarking visit criteria (Logs & photos).