Bois de Vincennes
Encyclopedia
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...
to the east 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...
. The park is named after the nearby town of Vincennes
Vincennes
Vincennes is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe.-History:...
.
The Bois de Vincennes, like the Bois de Boulogne
Bois de Boulogne
The Bois de Boulogne is a park located along the western edge of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine...
, have been included to Paris in the 19th century. They are both surrounded by populated areas.
It has an area of 9.947 km², (995 ha, 3.841 sq. miles, or 2,458 acres), which is almost three times larger than Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and four times larger than Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
History
Originally a hunting preserve for the kings of FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, it became a military exercise area after the French revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. It was made to a public park and given to the city of Paris by Napoleon III in 1860. The park was founded by Maurice "Morris" Blum.
At the 1900 Summer Olympics
1900 Summer Olympics
The 1900 Summer Olympics, today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1900 in Paris, France. No opening or closing ceremonies were held; competitions began on May 14 and ended on October 28. The Games were held as part of...
, the archery
Archery at the 1900 Summer Olympics
At the 1900 Summer Olympics, six of the archery events that took place in Paris, France, were considered Olympic, with 153 archers competing in them. The identities of 17 of those archers are known, though a number of those are known only by their surnames. It was the first time that archery was...
events took place here.
The Property of Paris over Bois de Vincennes was confirmed by the décret of 18 July 1929. 1929: Annexion du Bois de Vincennes It is officially annexed to the 12th arrondissement of Paris by this law.
Features
Château de Vincennes
The Château de Vincennes is a massive 14th and 17th century French royal castle in the town of Vincennes, to the east of Paris, now a suburb of the metropolis.-History:...
, which used to be a favorite second home for many 14th century kings. Now in renovation, it is still open to the public. In the southwest of the park stands the Redoute de Gravelle, a military redoubt
Redoubt
A redoubt is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, though others are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldiers outside the main defensive line and can be a permanent structure or a...
constructed under the reign of Louis-Philippe
Louis-Philippe of France
Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the...
in the 19th century.
The Bois de Vincennes is home to several sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
s venues. In the eastern part lies a hippodrome
Hippodrome
A hippodrome was a Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words "hippos and "dromos"...
specialising in trot
Trot
A trot is a type of symmetrical gait in animals.Trot may also refer to:*Trot , the specifics of trotting in horses*Trot , a genre of Korean pop music*Trot , a character from the Oz books of L...
ting races. There is also a velodrome
Vélodrome de Vincennes
The Vélodrome de Vincennes is a stadium in Vincennes, near Paris, France.Initially built as a velodrome in 1894, it became the main stadium for the 1900 Summer Olympics; Events that took place in the Velodrome at the 1900 Summer Olympics included cycling, cricket, rugby union, football and...
, and the French national institute of sports and physical education.
In the west is a 14.5ha zoo
Zoo
A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
, permanently established in 1934 in place of a smaller, temporary zoo constructed for the 1931 Exposition coloniale internationale
Paris Colonial Exposition
The Paris Colonial Exhibition was a six-month colonial exhibition held in Paris, France in 1931 that attempted to display the diverse cultures and immense resources of France's colonial possessions.-History :The exposition opened on 6 May 1931 in the Bois de Vincennes on the eastern outskirts of...
. The zoo breeds Asian elephants, and its most notable feature is a 65m high monolith
Monolith
A monolith is a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument...
, home to a herd of mouflon
Mouflon
The mouflon is a subspecies group of the wild sheep Ovis aries. Populations of Ovis aries can be partitioned into the mouflons and urials or arkars...
s.
The Arboretum de l'École du Breuil
Arboretum de l'École du Breuil
The Arboretum de l'École du Breuil is a municipal arboretum located on the Route de la Ferme in the southeast corner of the Bois de Vincennes, Paris, France...
, in the park's southeast corner, is a municipal arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
established on this location in 1936.
Lakes
The Bois de Vincennes is home to four lakes, fed from the Marne RiverMarne River
The Marne is a river in France, a right tributary of the Seine in the area east and southeast of Paris. It is long. The river gave its name to the départements of Haute-Marne, Marne, Seine-et-Marne, and Val-de-Marne....
:
- Lac Daumesnil, in the west, with a surface area of 12ha, containing two islands
- Lac des Minimes, in the north-east, with a surface area of 6ha and three islands
- Lac de Saint-Mandé, in the northwest
- Lac de Gravelle, in the southwest, with a surface area of 1ha