Parc des Buttes Chaumont, Paris: A Park with a Past

Like so many of the great parks, Paris’ Parc des Buttes Chaumont, seems to be at one with nature, or even to be nature itself. But while this park is beautiful, and a favorite of Paris families in the northeastern part of the city, it has a history far from what you might think.

Its green expanses, its dense woodlands, its dramatic waterfall and the Temple of Sybil atop its highest point; its peaceful waterways—they are all as un-natural as it’s possible to be. Even the name…it’s a shortening of Chauve-mont, or bare hill. And the rustic wooden railings to be found throughout the park? They are poured concrete, molded around rebar.

We’ll get to the good part in a minute (we didn’t go there to not enjoy it!) but let’s finish up the sinister history. Unlike some parks that are former woodlands or farms,

this one, because it was so barren, seemed to King Saint Louis a good place to use for hangings. In the 13th century, he had a massive gibbet erected, capable of multiple hangings. Multiple spaces was important, because the bodies were left on display until they were gone. The hangings didn’t end until 1760.

After 1789, it became a refuse dump, and then an area set aside for horse butchers, and after that a dump for sewage from the city (the area didn’t become part of Paris until 1860).

As if that weren’t enough indignity for the area, its barren landscape turned out, like many other areas, to be on top of rich deposits of gypsum (Plaster of Paris, if you will). So for a while it was tunneled into and mined, and then the tunnels became hideouts for thieves, and it looked like this:

And then Napoleon III and Baron Hausmann came along, and whatever you may think of them politically or personally, they were certainly not shy about spending money and glorifying Paris. Having annexed the 19e and 20e arrondissements, they picked the area for a park, and in 1864 the work began, directed by Jean-Charles Alphand, who also built the Bois de Boulogne and the Bois de Vincennes.

Two years, a thousand workers, 200,000 cubic meters of topsoil, and more. On the opening day of the Paris Universal Exposition of 1867, the park, with its new lakes, mountains and landscapes, opened to the public, and it was an instant success. So here, we leave the history and join the beautiful park.

The Temple of Sibyl on the Belvedere Island (above) is one of the park’s landmarks. Below, the only suspension bridge in Paris, designed by Gustave Eiffel. To be honest, I had expected better of him—but I guess that when you’re supposed to be looking “natural,” it’s not easy.

There are several cafes and rest areas within the park (which was good news for us a little later when the weather turned on us).

Of course the waterfall is artificial! Pumps pull water up from the Canal de l’Ourcq to create this pleasant spot. Sadly, the bridge below is called the “suicide bridge” for obvious reasons.

Just as we got here, the sky turned dark and the rain started. We spent a pleasant half hour with coffee and views of heavy rain and wind gusts, and occasional runners who ignored them to get in their daily distance.

But eventually, we decided the rain had slacked off enough for us to make a run for it, and head for an indoor afternoon. We may have been premature; later the afternoon was beautiful, but we had heavy rain before we found our way out of the park. Some folks, however, just pulled in under a heavy tree to sit it out.