Industrial · Parks

Giardino del Ranelagh

Paris

Giardino del Ranelagh is an English-style garden created in 1860 by engineer Adolphe Alphand. Its name refers to a ball initiated nearly a century earlier in the gardens of the Château de la Muette, where the ‘petit Ranelagh’ became a fashionable place at the end of the 18th century. The earlier venue opened in the Château gardens in Passy, under the direction of Morissan, a guard of the Passey barrier, who set the entrance price at 24 sous and obtained permission from Marshal de Soubise to enclose the area reserved for dancing.

The park has a triangular shape with main accesses at chaussée de la Muette, avenue Ingres, and avenue Raphaël, and additional entrances from boulevard de Beauséjour, rue Louis-Boilly, and rue Alfred-Dehodencq. It is open to the public at all times and is not fenced. Located in the west of the arrondissement and near the bois de Boulogne, it is relatively isolated and is visited mainly by residents. Its surroundings include the musée Marmottan Monet, a puppet theater, and streets with a high concentration of embassies and international institutions, including OECD delegations.

Map showing the location of Giardino del Ranelagh in Paris
Location of Giardino del Ranelagh in Paris

Nearby Objects

Situation and Access

The Giardino del Ranelagh is accessible from rue de Passy on the east via the chaussée de la Muette. Its southern edge is formed by avenue Ingres, while avenue Prudhon lies to the north, with both connecting westward to avenue Raphae l by a meridian way. The western border includes the musee Marmottan Monet. The site also contains a puppet theater. It is bordered by streets with the highest concentration of embassies and international institutions in Paris, and it is frequented by diplomats. Entrances are associated with the embassies of Gabon, Afghanistan, Madagascar, India, Sudan, and the OECD at the chateau de la Muette. Numerous other embassies and OECD delegations are located in the surrounding neighborhood.

Access and Setting

Giardino del Ranelagh is open to the public at all times, including at night, and it is not fenced. It is relatively isolated in the west of the arrondissement and near the Bois de Boulogne, which contributes to limited visitation, mostly by residents. The site has a triangular shape with main access points at each corner: chaussee de la Muette, avenue Ingres, and avenue Raphael. Additional access is available from boulevard de Beausejour, where there are three pedestrian entries and a tunnel, as well as from rue Louis-Boilly to the west and rue Alfred-Dehodencq to the northeast. Public transport access includes metro line 9 at La Muette and Ranelagh stations, with gare de Boulainvilliers on RER C also nearby.

From the Petit Ranelagh to the Histoire du jardin

The Histoire du jardin is an English-style garden created in 1860 by the engineer Adolphe Alphand. It takes its name from a ball initiated nearly a century earlier in the gardens of the Chateau de la Muette. That earlier site became known as the petit Ranelagh, a fashionable place at the end of the 18th century. The petit Ranelagh opened in the gardens of the Chateau de la Muette in the suburb of Paris, Passy, and was created by Morissan, a guard of the Passey barrier.

Morissan set the entrance price at 24 sous and obtained permission from Marshal de Soubise to enclose the territory dedicated to dancing in the Chateau gardens. He also built a cafe and a restaurant imitating the gardens of Lord Ranelagh in Chelsea, London, which had been open since 1742. The name and design references show how the site connected local leisure culture with a known London model, before Alphand's later garden gave the Histoire du jardin its present form.

Revolution, Occupation, and Decline

During the French Revolution, the Giardino del Ranelagh became a center for muscadine culture and counter-revolution activities. On June 20, 1791, the first anniversary of the Tennis Court Oath was celebrated there with a banquet attended by Danton and Robespierre. The park remained successful through the Consulate and Empire periods, but its ballroom was requisitioned by Russian detachments during the 1814-1815 occupation of Paris and was converted first into a stable and later into a hospital. In 1818, a hurricane caused the ballroom buildings to collapse. Even so, the location regained some success in the 1830s, despite the end of its former extravagances.

Design and Features of Giardino del Ranelagh

The current six-hectare public garden was designed in 1860 under Baron Haussmann's direction, extending and remodeling the road and park of La Muette into a triangular layout. Over time, the garden was adorned with many sculpted groups, adding to its landscaped character. In 1901, it was bordered along the Petite Ceinture rail lines for the visit of Russian emperor Nicolas II and Alexandra in France, and a temporary pavilion-landing stage was erected along 160 meters of the railway. The garden was also the place where the procession crossed an alley arranged through the garden of Ranelagh during that visit.

Giardino del Ranelagh contains several longstanding leisure features. A puppet theater operates there from March to November except August and has hosted the clown Buffo. In the western part of the garden, there is a carousel, described as one of the oldest in Paris, with wooden horses and manual cranking. The garden also includes a rotunda on the site of a former music kiosk. Its pedestrian paths are named after notable individuals, including Pilatre-de-Rozier, named in 1931, Jean-Sablon in 2003, Davia in 2011, and Avril-de-Sainte-Croix in 2015.

Statues and Memorials in the Garden

Giardino del Ranelagh includes several sculptural works recorded by Statuaire. These include the marble Ca in by Joseph-Michel Caille, created in 1871; P cheur ramenant dans ses filets la t te d'Orph e by Leon-Eugene Longepied, in marble from 1882; Mediation by Tony Noel, also in marble and dated 1882; and Vision du po te, a marble high-relief by Georges Bareau made in 1902 as a tribute to Victor Hugo. The site also features the bronze Monument a La Fontaine by Charles Correia, installed in 1984. This work replaced the 1891 monument by sculptor Alphonse Dumilatre, which had been melted down during the German Occupation in 1942. Statuaire also noted the melting in 1942 of the bronze L'Amour fugitif by Ernest Dame, followed by its theft several days later. The 1984 replacement preserved the soubassements and stone bench of the original monument. In addition, a commemorative stele was installed at the request of the Madagascar embassy to celebrate Franco-Malagasy fraternity during the two world wars.

Features and commemorative elements

The Giardino del Ranelagh includes several distinct features that combine recreation and commemoration. Near the Madagascar embassy, the Galerie du jardin features the Vatolahy, a symbol of the Franco-Malagasy brotherhood of arms, and it also contains a detailed plaque describing the Vatolahy monument. The garden furnishings include benches, and there is a playground area for children. The site has also been depicted in autumn season imagery, with an alley shown covered in snow. In addition, a tree was planted in the garden for the 2003 Tree Festival by Mayor Pierre-Christian Taittinger, and a plaque is displayed in front of this tree.

Cultural Appearances

Giardino del Ranelagh appears in the novel Silbermann (1922) by Jacques de Lacretelle, where it is shown in a garden scene. It also appears several times in the film La Belle Personne (2008) by Christophe Honor, including scenes set in the garden and a scene showing the crossing to the Bois de Boulogne. One scene in the film is set to the prelude BWV847 from The Well-Tempered Clavier by Jean-Sebastien Bach.