Parc Borély is a public municipal park in the city of

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is classified by the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) *Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...

as one of the

Remarkable Gardens of France The Remarkable Gardens of France is intended to be a list and description, by region, of the more than three hundred gardens classified as ''"Jardins remarquables"'' by the Ministry of Culture (France), Ministry of Culture and the Comi ...

. The park is 17 hectares in size. It adjoins the

Jardin botanique E.M. Heckel The Jardin botanique E.M. Heckel (12,000 m2), also known as the Jardin botanique de Marseille and the Jardin botanique Borély de Marseille, is a municipal botanical garden in the Parc Borély at 48, Avenue Clot Bey, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, ...

Description

Parc Borély has three different gardens; a

Garden à la française The French formal garden, also called the (), is a style of garden based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order on nature. Its epitome is generally considered to be the Gardens of Versailles designed during the 17th century by the l ...

, facing the bastide, composed of a two lawns, a circular basin and a rectangual basin, and double rows of trees, between the avenue du Prado and the gates of the park: An English landscape garden, on the east side of the park, surrounding a lake, and decorated with statues, fountain, a cascade, and a playground. It also featured a miniature of the basilica of

Notre-Dame de la Garde Notre-Dame de la Garde (literally: Our Lady of the Guard), known to local citizens as ''la Bonne Mère'' (French for 'the Good Mother'), is a Catholic basilica in Marseille, France, and the city's best-known symbol. The site of a popular Assump ...

. A recently renovated race track. The other two parts of the garden connect to the sea by a promenade and to the neighboring botanical garden.

History

The park was created in the 17th century by a French ship owner and merchant, Joseph Borely, who bought land for a country house, the

Château Borély The Château Borély is a chateau in the southern part of Marseille, France. Associated with Borély park and Marseille Borély golf course, it has been listed as a historical monument since 1936, and has housed the Museum of Decorative Arts, Earth ...

, in the area of Marseille called Bonneveine. The estate was enlarged in the 18th century by Joseph Borély, who constructed a bastide, or Provençal country house, on the domaine. When Louis-Joseph Borély inherited the domaine in 1770, he commissioned the landscape architect Embry to create a Garden à la française. In the middle of the 19th century, the land passed first to Paulin Talabot, director of the new PLM railroad which connected Paris to Marseille; and then the land was acquired by the city of Marseille. The city commissioned landscape architect

Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand (; 26 October 1817 – 6 December 1891) was a French engineer of the Corps of Bridges and Roads. As a close associate of Baron Haussmann and later as Director of Public Works at Paris City Hall from 1871, he was inst ...

to design a park with three distinct parts; a French garden, an English landscape park, and a track for horse racing by the side of the sea. A number of wooden pavilions were constructed; just one remains, the former pavilion by the lake, which had also served as a botanical laboratory of the Institut Colonial. From 1880 until 1915, the park was the site of a botanical garden, which moved to a different site adjoining the park. In 2002, a promenade of two hectares was laid out between the park and sea.

Sources

Page on the official site of the French Committee of Parks and Gardens
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parc Borely Buildings and structures in Marseille Geography of Marseille Borely, Parc Provence Tourist attractions in Marseille