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The Jardin Atlantique is a public park and garden located in the 15th arrondissement of
The Jardin Atlantique is a public park and garden located in the 15th arrondissement of Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, on the roof that covers the tracks and platforms of the Gare Montparnasse
Gare Montparnasse (; Montparnasse station), officially Paris-Montparnasse, one of the six large Paris railway termini, is located in the 14th and 15th arrondissements.
The station opened in 1840, was rebuilt in 1852 and relocated in 1969 to ...
railway station. It has an area of 3.4 hectares. It was created by the landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...
s Brun, Penna and Schnitzler, and opened in 1994.Dominique Jarassé, pg. 249
Description
The garden is placed atop the large roof, or dalle, that covers the tracks and platforms of the Gare Monparnasse, supported by twelve pillars, and seventeen meters above the street level. Large ventilator shafts for the station are placed around the garden, and the announcement of the trains departing can be heard in the garden. Cubes of stone filled with earth contain five hundred trees. The garden is surrounded by office buildings and by a line of tennis courts on the west side. It is also the site of a small museum honoringPhilippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque
Philippe François Marie Leclerc de Hauteclocque (22 November 1902 – 28 November 1947) was a Free-French general during the Second World War. He became Marshal of France posthumously in 1952, and is known in France simply as le maréchal ...
, commander of the French armored division which entered Paris first during the liberation of the city from the Germans in August 1944.
The plan of the garden is inspired the historical role of the Gare Montparnasse as the train station that connected Paris to Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
and the Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
. One theme is that of a ship; the lampposts resemble the masts of sailing ships, and there are two elevated walkways on either side of the garden which resemble the bridges of ships. The visitor to the garden is supposed to feel like a passenger on a cruise ship surrounded by a circle of office buildings.
In the center of the garden, surrounded by a lawn, is a small square called the Isle of the Hesperides
In Greek mythology, the Hesperides (; , ) are the nymphs of evening and golden light of sunsets, who were the "Daughters of the Evening" or "Nymphs of the West". They were also called the Atlantides () from their reputed father, the Titan Atlas ...
, named for the legendary islands believed by the Ancient Greeks to be to the west of the Pillars of Hercules
The Pillars of Hercules ( la, Columnae Herculis, grc, Ἡράκλειαι Στῆλαι, , ar, أعمدة هرقل, Aʿmidat Hiraql, es, Columnas de Hércules) was the phrase that was applied in Antiquity to the promontories that flank t ...
. In the "island" is a fountain, called the Fontaine des Hesperides, made by the sculptor Jean-Max Llorca, composed of several gigantic meteorogical instruments for measuring the rain, temperature, wind and atmospheric pressure, surrounded by jets of water.
On the east side of the garden are a series of small thematic gardens, with different types of vegetation:
*Salle des Plants ondoyantes. (grasses moving in the wind.)
*Salle des Humidites. (Aquatic plants.)
*Salle des Bleus and Mauves. (Flowers in blue and mauve.)
*Salle du Silence. (A secluded garden for meditation.)
*Salle des Rivages (Plants of the coast.)
The large number of pine trees in the garden are also supposed to evoke the Atlantic coast of Brittany.
The east side of the garden also has two pavillons, where visitors can climb to the roof and look over the garden.
Bibliography
*Jarassé, Dominique, ''Grammaire des Jardins Parisiennes'', Parigramme, 2007Sources and Citations
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