The Trocadéro Fountain, also known as the Warsaw Fountain, is a fountain located in the Trocadéro Gardens, situated below the

Palais de Chaillot The Palais de Chaillot () is a building at the top of the in the Trocadéro area in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. Design The building was designed in classicising " moderne" style by architects Louis-Hippolyte Boileau, Jacques ...

in the

16th arrondissement of Paris The 16th arrondissement of Paris (; ) is the westernmost of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France. Located on the city's Right Bank, it is adjacent to the 17th and 8th arrondissements to the northeast, as well as to the ...

, France. The fountain's footprint (lawns and basins) forms an island bordered by four public roads: ''Place de Varsovie'' (named in 1928), ''Avenue Albert Ier de Monaco'' (named in 1932), ''Avenue Hussein Ier de Jordanie'' (named in 1999), and ''Avenue Gustave V de Suède'' (named in 1951).

History

The original fountain

Before the current fountain, an earlier one stood in its place, designed as a

cascade Cascade, or Cascading may refer to: Science and technology Science * Air shower (physics), a cascade (particle shower) of subatomic particles and ionized nuclei ** Particle shower, a cascade of secondary particles produced as the result of a high ...

by architect

Gabriel Davioud Jean-Antoine-Gabriel Davioud (; 30 October 1824 – 6 April 1881) was a French architect. He worked closely with Baron Haussmann on the transformation of Paris under Napoleon III during the Second Empire. Davioud is remembered for his contributio ...

for the 1878 Universal Exposition, alongside the construction of the . This fountain featured bronze mascarons crafted by

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...

. Seven of these were salvaged and reinstalled at the

Parc de Sceaux Sceaux () is a commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. In 2019, Sceaux had a population of 20,004. Sceaux is one of the most affluent areas of France and is kn ...

, while

others Others or The Others may refer to: Fictional characters * Others (''A Song of Ice and Fire''), supernatural creatures in the fictional world of George R. R. Martin's fantasy series ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' * Others (''Lost''), mysterious inh ...

were placed on the retaining wall of the terrace at the

Jardin des Serres d'Auteuil The Jardin des Serres d'Auteuil (, literally 'Garden of the Greenhouses of Auteuil') is a botanical garden set within a major greenhouse complex located at the southern edge of the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th arrondissement, with entry at 1 ave ...

. Plaster models of two mascarons are preserved at the ''Musée des Arts Décoratifs'', in Paris. Surrounding the fountain were four bronze sculptures: ''Horse with Harrow'' by Pierre Louis Rouillard, ''Young Elephant Trapped'' by

Emmanuel Frémiet Emmanuel Frémiet (6 December 182410 September 1910) was a French sculptor. He is famous for his 1874 sculpture of Joan of Arc in Paris (and its "sister" statues in Philadelphia and Portland, Oregon) and the monument to Ferdinand de Lesseps in S ...

, ''The Rhinoceros'' by Henri-Alfred Jacquemart, and ''The Ox'' by

Auguste Cain Auguste Nicolas Caïn (10 November 1821 – 6 August 1894) was a French sculptor in the Animaliers school, known for his portrayals of wild and domesticated animals. Life Caïn was born in Paris, and studied under Rude, Guionnet, and Pierre ...

. Today, the first three are located in Paris in front of the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) () is a museum in Paris, France, on the Rive Gauche, Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts railway station built from 1898 to 1900. The museum holds mai ...

, while the last is in

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

. The original fountain was demolished in 1935 to make way for its successor.

The 1937 fountain

Constructed for the 1937 International Exposition, the current fountain was part of a major redevelopment of the area, including the replacement of the old Trocadéro Palace with the

and a redesign of the Trocadéro Gardens. The architects were

Roger-Henri Expert Roger-Henri Expert (18 April 1882 – 13 April 1955) was a French architect. Life The son of a merchant, Expert first studied painting at the École des beaux-arts in Bordeaux, then from 1906 attended the École nationale supérieure des Bea ...

, Paul Maître, and Adolphe Thiers, with sculptors Daniel-Joseph Bacqué and Léon-Ernest Drivier contributing to its design. As the largest fountain in Paris, it features "an impressive array of twenty angled water cannons, arranged in four groups of five, aimed toward the Eiffel Tower with a 50-meter range, complemented by fifty-six 4-meter water jets and twelve 7-meter columns, all powered by a 1,000-horsepower system." During the 1937 exposition, 530 electric projectors illuminated the fountain and its surroundings for a spectacular nighttime display. In winter, when frozen, the fountain’s surface has been used for ice skating and sliding. The fountain has appeared in popular media, including the music video for

Laurent Voulzy Lucien Voulzy (, born 18 December 1948), better known as Laurent Voulzy (), is a French singer-songwriter, composer, and musician. Life and career Voulzy was born in Paris, France. He originally led the English-pop-influenced Le Temple de Vénu ...

’s '' Rockollection'' (1977) and a scene in

Lisa Azuelos Lisa Azuelos (born Elise-Anne Bethsabée Azuelos; 6 November 1965) is a French director, writer, and producer. She is the daughter of singer Marie Laforêt. Biography Lisa Azuelos is the daughter of French singer and actress Marie Laforêt an ...

’s film '' LOL (Laughing Out Loud)'' (2012). In 1989, to mark the centennial of the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...

and the bicentennial of the French Revolution,

Mireille Mathieu Mireille Mathieu (; born July 22, 1946) is a French singer. She has recorded over 1,200 songs in eleven languages, with more than 122 million records sold worldwide. Biography and career Early years Mireille Mathieu was born on July 22, 1946, ...

performed ''La Marseillaise'' with the French Army Choir in front of the fountain, broadcast live on French television. During the summer of 2021, the Trocadéro Gardens were temporarily reconfigured to host a fan zone for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in Tokyo. The fountain was drained and transformed into a stadium-like space. The site is accessible via Line 6 and Line 9 at the Trocadéro station.

Description

The current Trocadéro Fountain consists of a rectangular basin "topped by a series of symmetrical smaller basins operating in a closed circuit." It features twenty 50-meter-range angled water cannons, fifty-six 7-meter jets, and twelve 7-meter columns, collectively propelling 5,700 liters of water per second. Flanking the fountain near the

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

are two freestanding sculptures: ''The Joy of Life'' by Léon-Ernest Drivier and ''Youth'' by

Pierre-Marie Poisson Pierre-Marie Poisson was born in Niort on 19 November 1876 and died in Paris on 11 January 1953. He was a French sculptor and medallist. Biography Pierre-Marie Poisson was born in Niort on 19 November 1876. Early studies at the local school w ...

. Additional sculptures adorn the basins, including one of horses and a dog by Georges Guyot and another of a bull and deer by

Paul Jouve Pierre-Paul Jouve ( Marlotte, Seine-et-Marne, 16 March 1878 – Paris, 13 May 1973) was a French painter, sculptor and illustrator. He was notable for his paintings and sculptures of Africa's animals. He was first recipient of the Prix Abd-el ...

. Two statues, ''Man'' by Pierre Traverse and ''Woman'' by Daniel Bacqué, overlook the structure. The fountain is equipped with nighttime lighting.

References

Bibliography