Parc de la Tête d'Or
Encyclopedia
Parc de la Tête d'Or in central Lyon
, is an urban park in France
, with 117 hectares (289.1 acre) it is 8.5 times smaller than bois de Vincennes
in Paris
. Located in the 6th arrondissement
, it features a large lake on which boating takes place during the summer months. Due to the relatively small number of other parks in Lyon, it receives a huge number of visitors over summer, and is a frequent destination for joggers and cyclists. At the northern end of the park, there is a small zoo, with giraffes, elephants, tigers and other animals. There is also sporting equipment, such as a velodrome, boules court, mini-golf, horse riding, and even a miniature train.
or the hill of Fourvière
, and then finally, the current lands owned in large part to the Hospices civils de Lyon were chosen. In 1845, the architect Christophe Bonnet proposed, in the purpose of the beautification of the Guillotière quarter, a project of urban park at the current location of the park : "To satisfy the pressing needs of a large population, I turned the lands and brush of the Parc de la Tête-d'Or in a planted wood like the Bois de Boulogne
." This idea was also presented by the Senator-Mayor Claude-Marius Vaïsse
who wanted to create a park to "give the nature to those who don't have it". In 1856, the land was bought to the Hospices Civils de Lyon. The work of the park began in 1856, under the leadership of Swiss landscaping
s Eugene and Denis Bulher and lasted five years. The park was finally open in 1857, although at the time all the work was not yet completed. It was located in the northern district of Les Brotteaux, along the Rhône. A dam was built to make non-flooded vast lands transformed into a park.
, the site became a housing complex with offices, apartments and buildings devoted to entertainment, including the International City of Lyon and the 3000-seat Amphitheatre of the Palais des Congrès
of Lyon.
A vast lake of 16 hectares can indulge in the pleasures of boating in summer, thanks to the pier located on the south bank. In the northern part of the lake rise two wooded islands, the Île des Tamaris, accessible only by boat, and the Île du Souvenir on which is erected a memorial in the shape of a quadrilateral. Formerly called Île des Cygnes, it has been converted after plans by the Lyon architect Tony Garnier and the 1904 Prix de Rome
sculptor Jean-Baptiste Larrivé to honor soldiers killed in combat. The soldiers' names are engraved on the outer sides of walls. An underground corridor provides access to the island, the staircase that leads literally immersed under the lake.
The park also contains four rose garden
s, but also huge greenhouses, a botanical garden
, a zoo
and a velodrome
.
The main entrance, at the southeast corner, is guarded by an enormous wrought iron gate known as the Porte des enfants du Rhône (Gate of the children of the Rhone). The gate, with its gilded features, was installed in 1901, when the park was fenced off for the first time.
The zoo now houses animals from around the world. It extends over six hectares and counts several hundred animals, including many large mammals, some are very rare, like the Barbary lion
, extinct in the wild since 1922.
In October 2006, the park opened "La Plaine Africaine" ("The African plain"), an area where 130 different animals - some belonging to rare and protected species - live in freedom on 2.5 acres (10,117.2 m²). The African plain is divided into five parts. The savannah
part, where Ankole-Watusis
, the Nile Lechwe
s, guineafowl
s and Black Crowned Crane
s can be seen, is the largest. It communicates with the part reserved for giraffes. A wet land houses many breeds of birds, including pelicans and flamingos, and lemurs on an island. An adjacent enclosure is reserved for crocodiles, which are allowed to go out only escape during hot weather. At the east end of the plain, a pavilion houses the boses for antelopes, and some sandy enclosures adorned with rocks and stumps, where live Yellow Mongoose
s, porcupines, Sand Cat
s, and Bat-eared Fox
es and turtles. Other areas in reconstruction in 2010 spring, host serval
s, leopards and lions.
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, is an urban park in France
France
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...
, with 117 hectares (289.1 acre) it is 8.5 times smaller than bois de Vincennes
Bois de Vincennes
The Bois de Vincennes is a park in the English landscape manner to the east of Paris. The park is named after the nearby town of Vincennes....
in 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...
. Located in the 6th arrondissement
Arrondissement
Arrondissement is any of various administrative divisions of France, certain other Francophone countries, and the Netherlands.-France:The 101 French departments are divided into 342 arrondissements, which may be translated into English as districts. The capital of an arrondissement is called a...
, it features a large lake on which boating takes place during the summer months. Due to the relatively small number of other parks in Lyon, it receives a huge number of visitors over summer, and is a frequent destination for joggers and cyclists. At the northern end of the park, there is a small zoo, with giraffes, elephants, tigers and other animals. There is also sporting equipment, such as a velodrome, boules court, mini-golf, horse riding, and even a miniature train.
Before the creation of the park
In 1530, the lands constituted the current park were the Lambert family's property, and the location was already named "Parc de la Tête d'Or". In 1662, an archival document referred to the area called Grange Lambert. The name "Tête d'Or" was found from a legend saying that a treasure with a Christ's head could be buried in the park. The area was a flood zone composed of "lônes" (dead backwaters) of the Rhône and "brotteaux" (swamps). It remained like this until the park creation.The project of a park
Since 1812, an urban park in Lyon was planned. Various locations were being scheduled, like the Presqu'îlePresqu'ile (Lyon)
The Presqu’île, literally the "peninsula", extending from the foot of the Croix Rousse hill to the confluence of the Rhône and the Saône rivers, is in the city centre of Lyon, France. It has a preponderance of cafés, restaurants, luxury shops, department stores, banks, government buildings, and...
or the hill of Fourvière
Fourvière
Fourvière is a district of Lyon, France located on a hill immediately west of the old part of the town, rising abruptly from the river Saône and then gently sloping down to the north-west. It is the site of the original Roman settlement of Lugdunum...
, and then finally, the current lands owned in large part to the Hospices civils de Lyon were chosen. In 1845, the architect Christophe Bonnet proposed, in the purpose of the beautification of the Guillotière quarter, a project of urban park at the current location of the park : "To satisfy the pressing needs of a large population, I turned the lands and brush of the Parc de la Tête-d'Or in a planted wood 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...
." This idea was also presented by the Senator-Mayor Claude-Marius Vaïsse
Claude-Marius Vaïsse
Claude-Marius Vaïsse was a French politician, former prefect of Lyon, called the "Hausmann lyonnais".- Political career :...
who wanted to create a park to "give the nature to those who don't have it". In 1856, the land was bought to the Hospices Civils de Lyon. The work of the park began in 1856, under the leadership of Swiss landscaping
Landscaping
Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including:# living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly referred to as gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal of creating a beautiful environment within the landscape.#...
s Eugene and Denis Bulher and lasted five years. The park was finally open in 1857, although at the time all the work was not yet completed. It was located in the northern district of Les Brotteaux, along the Rhône. A dam was built to make non-flooded vast lands transformed into a park.
A new urban park
- 1857: Originally, the Jardin botanique de Lyon was created after a 1794 decree by the National ConventionNational ConventionDuring the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
which required the establishment of Central Schools for cities of more than 300,000 inhabitants. These schools should teach science, literature and arts, and have a botanical garden. Thus, Jean-Emmanuel Gilibert, then mayor of Lyon, applied the decree in his the city and created the botanical garden on the slopes of the Croix-Rousse. Completed in 1804 in the Couvent de la Déserte, the garden was too cramped and was therefore transferred to the park in 1857. It was then composed of more than 4,000 plants. The garden was located in the eastern park to not jeopardize the prospects of the park and break the effect produced by the large central lawn, at the south of the lake. A land for the experimental crops was developed for poaceaePoaceaeThe Poaceae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called grasses, although the term "grass" is also applied to plants that are not in the Poaceae lineage, including the rushes and sedges...
, fruit trees and medicinal plants. Now spread over seven hectares, the Jardin botanique de Lyon collections are as rich as that of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelleMuséum national d'histoire naturelleThe Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle is the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France.- History :The museum was formally founded on 10 June 1793, during the French Revolution...
in Paris. - 1859: the orangeryOrangeryAn orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...
was moved from botanical garden on the slopes of the Croix-Rousse to the new park. - 1861: creation of a boating activity on the lake. That year, the park had spaces devoted to the presentation of animals. The plan by brothers Bühler included original entries like a park with sheep, a pen of chickens and a cow pasture. Slowly, a zoological park was created by the arrival of exotic animals, construction and renovation of adapted facilities, the latest being the African plain, inaugurated in October 2006.
- 1865: construction of large greenhouses and greenhouse of agave by the architect Gustave Bonnet.
- 1867: watercolor map of the park is presented at the Universal Exposition of Paris.
- From 1877 to 1880: reconstruction of large greenhouses.
- 1881: building of the monument des Légionnaires.
- 1887: building of the greenhouse Victoria, destroyed in 1980.
- 1894: Universal, international and colonial Exhibition took place on the site of the Parc de la Tête d'Or. after an act in 28 August 1884, forts of the Parc de la Tête d'Or and Charpennes were demolished for the creation of the Boulevard du Nord, currently named Boulevard des BelgesBoulevard des BelgesThe Boulevard des Belges is a wide and posh avenue located in Les Brotteaux quarter, in the 6th arrondissement of Lyon. It begins with the Quai de Grande Bretagne, runs along the southern part of the Parc de la Tête d'Or until the Avenue Verguin and ends on the Place Jules Ferry, in front of the...
. The guards cottage, cottages, and the velodrome were built. That year, the Villeurbanne part of the park was annexed by the city of Lyon: the park was for a long time shared between Lyon and Villeurbanne, and the border between the two communities crossed the park. Quarrels and rivalries always arose between the two municipalities regarding expenditures and revenues of the park. French president under the Third Republic Jean Casimir-PerierJean Casimir-PerierJean Paul Pierre Casimir-Perier was a French politician, fifth president of the French Third Republic.-Biography:He was born in Paris, the son of Auguste Casimir-Perier and the grandson of Casimir Pierre Perier, premier of Louis Philippe...
promulgated on 17 December 1894 the law on the annexation of the section of the park in Villeurbanne to the 6th arrondissement of Lyon. - 1896 to 1898: The city wanted to make a fence to protect the park and to prevent fraudsters from introducing goods hidden by vegetation, as the park was located then at the limit of the grant. On 5 November 1896 was decided the construction of the fence consists of a concrete wall topped by an iron railing. A strong opposition was raised against the idea of a fence: on 17 November 1898, the gate was torn over three hundred metres. The work ended with the break of grids to three entries: Tête-d'Or door, Montgolfier door and the main door of Les Légionnaires, now called Les Enfants du Rhône. This latter door was the subject of a competition launched in 1898, won by Charles Meysson. The door was made by the Lyon firm Jean Bernard. It is thirty-two metres length and has two stone pylons. The central door is eleven metres high. The whole door weighs eleven tons.
- 1899: construction of collections, cultures and palms greenhouses
- 1901: construction of flags of the Tête d'Or door
- 1904: construction of the stable for cows by architect Tony GarnierTony GarnierTony Garnier may refer to:* Tony Garnier * Tony Garnier * Halle Tony Garnier, French concert hall...
which moved to Cibeins in 1914. - 1913: construction of a pier on the lake
- 1917: inauguration of new cages for lions
- 1932: the underground connecting the Île aux Cygnes and the east bank were opened.
- 1961 to 1964: creation of the new rose garden
- 1964: creation of the enclosure for elephants
- 1968: construction of an enclosure for giraffes, now empty after the removal of the giraffes in their new enclosure in the African plain
- 1989: creation of the human right place (Espace droits de l'homme) in the northern part of the park; some monoliths erected contain the text of the statement.
- 1991: proposal to build a new entrance in front of the Cité Internationale de Lyon
- 2006-2007: establishment of the African plain in the zoo.
Plan
The park has large grassy areas and rolling terrain. It is bordered by a dike that separates the Rhone and on which the fair and exhibitions were held. After the moving of the Exhibition Centre to the suburbs, in ChassieuChassieu
Chassieu is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France....
, the site became a housing complex with offices, apartments and buildings devoted to entertainment, including the International City of Lyon and the 3000-seat Amphitheatre of the Palais des Congrès
Palais des Congrès
Palais des Congrès *Belgium**Palais des congrès de Liège*France** Centre des congrès de Saint-Étienne** Cité Internationale des Congrès de Nantes** Palais des congrès de Beaune** Palais des congrès de Bordeaux...
of Lyon.
A vast lake of 16 hectares can indulge in the pleasures of boating in summer, thanks to the pier located on the south bank. In the northern part of the lake rise two wooded islands, the Île des Tamaris, accessible only by boat, and the Île du Souvenir on which is erected a memorial in the shape of a quadrilateral. Formerly called Île des Cygnes, it has been converted after plans by the Lyon architect Tony Garnier and the 1904 Prix de Rome
Prix de Rome
The Prix de Rome was a scholarship for arts students, principally of painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, in 1663 in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by...
sculptor Jean-Baptiste Larrivé to honor soldiers killed in combat. The soldiers' names are engraved on the outer sides of walls. An underground corridor provides access to the island, the staircase that leads literally immersed under the lake.
Features
Rose garden
A Rose garden or Rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, used to present and grow various types of garden roses. Designs vary tremendously and roses may be displayed alongside other plants or grouped by individual variety, colour or class in rose beds.-Origins of the rose...
s, but also huge greenhouses, a botanical garden
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
, a 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....
and a velodrome
Velodrome
A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights...
.
The main entrance, at the southeast corner, is guarded by an enormous wrought iron gate known as the Porte des enfants du Rhône (Gate of the children of the Rhone). The gate, with its gilded features, was installed in 1901, when the park was fenced off for the first time.
Zoo
The zoo was created at the same time as the park. At first, it was shceduled to create only of a farm for educational purposes, with some local wild animals, but little by little, developments have been increased to accommodate new animals and the park progressively has been turning into a real zoo.The zoo now houses animals from around the world. It extends over six hectares and counts several hundred animals, including many large mammals, some are very rare, like the Barbary lion
Barbary Lion
The Barbary lion , also known as the Atlas lion or Nubian lion, is a subspecies of lion that became extinct in the wild or extinct in the 20th century....
, extinct in the wild since 1922.
In October 2006, the park opened "La Plaine Africaine" ("The African plain"), an area where 130 different animals - some belonging to rare and protected species - live in freedom on 2.5 acres (10,117.2 m²). The African plain is divided into five parts. The savannah
Savannah
Savannah or savanna is a type of grassland.It can also mean:-People:* Savannah King, a Canadian freestyle swimmer* Savannah Outen, a singer who gained popularity on You Tube...
part, where Ankole-Watusis
Ankole-Watusi (cattle)
The Ankole-Watusi is a breed of cattle originally native to Africa. Its large, distinctive horns, that can reach up to from tip to tip, are used for defense. Ankole-Watusis weigh from . Living in the savannas and open grasslands, their diet consists of grass and leaves...
, the Nile Lechwe
Nile Lechwe
The Nile Lechwe, Wasserbock or Mrs Gray's Lechwe or waterbuck is an endangered species of antelope found in floodplains in Southern Sudan and far south-western Ethiopia...
s, guineafowl
Guineafowl
The guineafowl are a family of birds in the Galliformes order, although some authorities include the guineafowl as a subfamily, Numidinae, of the family Phasianidae...
s and Black Crowned Crane
Black Crowned Crane
The Black Crowned Crane is a bird in the crane family Gruidae. It was once called also Kaffir Crane.It occurs in dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara, although in nests in somewhat wetter habitats. There are two subspecies: B. p. pavonina in the west and the more numerous B. p...
s can be seen, is the largest. It communicates with the part reserved for giraffes. A wet land houses many breeds of birds, including pelicans and flamingos, and lemurs on an island. An adjacent enclosure is reserved for crocodiles, which are allowed to go out only escape during hot weather. At the east end of the plain, a pavilion houses the boses for antelopes, and some sandy enclosures adorned with rocks and stumps, where live Yellow Mongoose
Yellow Mongoose
The Yellow Mongoose , sometimes referred to as the Red Meerkat, is a small mammal averaging about 1 lb in weight and about 20 in in length...
s, porcupines, Sand Cat
Sand Cat
The sand cat , also referred to as the "sand dune cat", is a small wild cat distributed over African and Asian deserts. The Sand cat lives in arid areas that are too hot and dry even for the African Wildcat: the Sahara, the Arabian Desert, and the deserts of Iran and...
s, and Bat-eared Fox
Bat-eared Fox
The bat-eared fox is a canid of the African savanna, named for its large ears. Fossil records show this canid to first appear during the middle Pleistocene, about 800,000 years ago....
es and turtles. Other areas in reconstruction in 2010 spring, host serval
Serval
The serval , Leptailurus serval or Caracal serval, known in Afrikaans as Tierboskat, "tiger-forest-cat", is a medium-sized African wild cat. DNA studies have shown that the serval is closely related to the African golden cat and the caracal...
s, leopards and lions.