Parc du Mugel
Encyclopedia
La Ciotat
La Ciotat is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France. It is part of the metropolitan area of Marseille Provence. La ciotat is located to the east of Marseille at an equal distance from Marseille and Toulon...
, in the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône
Bouches-du-Rhône is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its INSEE and postal code is 13.-History of the department:...
, on the Mediterranean coast of France between Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
and Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
. It is listed among the Notable Gardens of France
Notable gardens of France
The Remarkable Gardens of France is intended to be a list and description, by region, of the over two hundred gardens classified as "Jardins remarquables" by the French Ministry of Culture and the Comité des Parcs et Jardins de France...
by the French Ministry of Culture.
History
In 1805 the park was divided into three properties, which were joined in 1870. In 1923 the land was purchased by Marseille coal merchant Louis Fouquet, who created the tropical garden. In 1947, the house and park was bought by the Bonzo family, who sold thirteen hectares in 1952 to the town of La Ciotat. The town eventually bought the entire property, and, in 1982, the park was opened to the public.The site
The park, twelve hectares in size, is located on the edge of the calanqueCalanque
A calanque is a steep-walled inlet, cove, or bay that is developed in limestone, dolomite, or other carbonate strata and found along the Mediterranean coast...
of La Ciotat, a rocky inlet of the Mediterranean, and has a small beach on the calanque. It is at the foot of a massive rock, Le Bec d'Aigle (Eng: The Eagle's Beak), 155 meters high, which shelters the site from the wind, while the Mediterranean warms it in the winter, and keeps the temperature down in the summer.
The Bec d'Aigle is composed of an unusual agglomorate called "Poudingue" ("Pudding"), which is believed to be the remnant of a former continent, the pyreneo-sardo-corse land mass, which once occupied the Mediterranean. The park is watered by several small reservoirs, which capture the rain running off the rock.
The Tropical Garden
The tropical garden contains thirty different species of palm trees, as well as mimosaMimosa
Mimosa is a genus of about 400 species of herbs and shrubs, in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the legume family Fabaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek word μιμος , meaning "mimic."...
, bougainvillia, bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
, banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
, and other tropical plants. It also features a garden of aromatic plants. A garden of lavander is planted just below the main house.
The Provençal Nature Preserve
The nature preserve covers the steep hillside between the tropical garden and the Bec D'Aigle. It is composed of native liege oak trees, and the traditional brush landscape, locally called garrigueGarrigue
Garrigue or phrygana is a type of low, soft-leaved scrubland ecoregion and plant community in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. It is found on limestone soils around the Mediterranean Basin, generally near the seacoast, where the climate is ameliorated, but where annual summer...
.
Sources and citations
- Official brochure on the Parc du Mugel, published by the City of La Ciotat