The Tivoli gardens 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. Si ...
were
amusement park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
s located near the current site of the
Saint-Lazare station, named after the gardens of the
Villa d'Este
The Villa d'Este is a 16th-century villa in Tivoli, near Rome, famous for its terraced hillside Italian Renaissance garden and especially for its profusion of fountains. It is now an Italian state museum, and is listed as a UNESCO World Her ...
in
Tivoli
Tivoli may refer to:
* Tivoli, Lazio, a town in Lazio, Italy, known for historic sites; the inspiration for other places named Tivoli
Buildings
* Tivoli (Baltimore, Maryland), a mansion built about 1855
* Tivoli Building (Cheyenne, Wyoming), ...
near
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. There were several such gardens in succession between 1795 and 1842, none of which remain today.
''Folie-Boutin'' or Grand Tivoli (1795-1810)
In 1766, Simon Gabriel Boutin (1720-1794), a son of the wealthy
farmer-general Boutin, had several houses built in a park of eight hectares, resplendent with rare plants, English, Italian, and Dutch gardens, a bowling green, and follies including false ruins, rocky promontories, and a waterfall. He named the ensemble ''Tivoli'' in honor of the gardens of the
Villa d'Este
The Villa d'Este is a 16th-century villa in Tivoli, near Rome, famous for its terraced hillside Italian Renaissance garden and especially for its profusion of fountains. It is now an Italian state museum, and is listed as a UNESCO World Her ...
in Rome, and the ''Folie Boutin'', as it was often called, quickly became known for its splendid gardens. Its main entrance was located rue de Clichy, with a secondary entrance on rue Saint-Lazare. Two principal buildings were at n°102, la rue Saint-Lazare, and at n°27, la rue de Clichy. A pavilion, attributed to architect
François Dominique Barreau de Chefdeville
François Dominique Barreau de Chefdeville (1725 – 29 June 1765) was a French architect.
Life
From a good middle-class Paris family, Bareau de Chefdeville studied architecture under Germain Boffrand and one first prize in the 1749 Prix de Rome f ...
(1725-1765), housed a mineralogical collection. There on Thursdays Boutin received his friends, including painter
Hubert Robert
Hubert Robert (22 May 1733 – 15 April 1808) was a French painter in the school of Romanticism, noted especially for his landscape paintings and capricci, or semi-fictitious picturesque depictions of ruins in Italy and of France.Jean de Cayeux. ...
and architect
Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart
Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart (; 15 February 1739 – 6 June 1813) was a prominent French architect.
Biography
Born in Paris, France. A prominent member of Parisian society, in 1767 he married Anne-Louise d'Egremont. The couple became frie ...
.
Boutin was guillotined on July 17, 1794, during the
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First French Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public Capital punishment, executions took pl ...
, and the park put under sequestration. In 1795, the ''Folie Boutin'' opened to the public, formally taking the name of Tivoli and becoming the ancestor of
amusement park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
s. During its time as a public garden, it was a favorite entertainment spot for Parisian high society, with amusements including panoramas, marionnettes, and magic lantern shows. From 1796 to 1797 a counter-revolutionary society, called ''Clichy'', occupied the site, but Boutin's heirs recovered Tivoli by a lawsuit in 1797. In 1799, a bath opened on the site (''Les eaux thermales et minérales de Tivoli''). Following the damage caused by the
bivouacking of
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
's troops before their departure for Spain, the garden was closed on August 30, 1810.
''Folie-Richelieu'' or Second Tivoli (1810-1826)
After the first Tivoli closed, the musician Baneux reopened it in more modest surroundings as the ''Folie-Richelieu'' or Second Tivoli, located on grounds between n°s 18 and 38 of the Rue de Clichy, extending to the Rue Blanche, on a site first created in 1730 by Marshal Richelieu for his own entertainment, and subsequently belonging to
Fortunée Hamelin. In 1812, it was reintegrated with the Grand Tivoli site. Part of the land was sold to banker Pierre-Laurent Hainguerlot and subsequently the Spanish legation. The Second Tivoli disappeared in 1825, after an evening party given for
Charles X
Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and Lou ...
's coronation on 7 June. On February 2, 1826, the Boutin heirs sold the land to Jonas-Philip Hagerman and Sylvain Mignon, when it became the ''
Quartier de l'Europe''.
''Folie-Bouxière'' or New Tivoli (1826-1842)
Étienne-Gaspard Robert
Étienne-Gaspard Robert (15 June 1763 – 2 July 1837), often known by the stage name of "Robertson", was a prominent Liégeois (now part of Belgium) physicist, stage magician and influential developer of phantasmagoria. He was described by C ...
opened the third Tivoli in 1826, which survived until 1842 when the rue Ballu and other streets were constructed. This was a true amusement park with roller coasters, pantomimes, labyrinths, and fireworks prepared by the master artificer Claude Ruggierri. Pigeon shooting, imported from England in 1831, resulted in the death of over 300,000 pigeons.
See also
*
Tivoli (disambiguation) for various places using this name.
*
Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée
The Compagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée ("Railway Company of Paris to Lyon and the Mediterranean"), also known as the Chemins de fer Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée or simply PLM, established in 1857, was one of Fran ...
, whose opulent head office was built on the former Tivoli grounds
Further reading
*Gilbert-Antoine Langlois, ''Folies, Tivolis et attractions'', Paris: Délégation à l'Action Artistique de la Ville de Paris, 1991
*Bruno Centorame (ed.), ''La Nouvelle Athènes: Haut-lieu du Romantisme'', Paris: Délégation à l'Action Artistique de la Ville de Paris, 2001
*Jacques Hillairet, ''Connaissance du vieux Paris'', 1951
External links
Jardin de Tivoli, Paris
Mairie du 9e: ''Le Jardin Boutin''
Districts of Paris
Defunct amusement parks in France
18th century in Paris
8th arrondissement of Paris
19th century in Paris
Gardens in Paris
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