The Palais Longchamp is a monument in the 4th arrondissement of Marseille,

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 houses the Musée des beaux-arts and Muséum d'histoire naturelle de Marseille. The surrounding Longchamp Park (French: ''Parc Longchamp'') is listed by the French Ministry of Culture as one of the

Notable 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 and the Comité des Parcs et Jardins de Fr ...

History

The Palais Longchamp was created to celebrate the construction of the Canal de Marseille, which was built to bring water from the river Durance to

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 Fra ...

. Although the foundation stone was laid by the Duke of Orleans on 15 November 1839, the building took 30 years to complete, partly because of the enormous expense and partly because of difficulties with local regulations. Designed by the architect

Henri-Jacques Espérandieu Henri-Jacques Espérandieu (22 February 1829 – 11 November 1874) was an architect who made his career in Marseille, France. He was responsible for some of the most famous buildings of the city, including the "Bonne mère", Notre-Dame de la Garde. ...

, the building was centered on the structure and elaborate fountain known as the ''château d'eau'' ("water castle").

Description

Marseille Palais Longchamp At Night JD 22052007

The Palais Longchamp has three main parts: * The ''château d'eau'' * The east wing, which houses the Musée des Beaux-Arts * The west wing, which houses the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle

Park

Longchamp Park was opened in 1869, at the same time as the palace; in addition, the art and natural-history collections, which had been housed elsewhere, moved into the palace at this time. The park also contained a zoo, which was run by the city from 1898 until 1987, when, because of public disaffection with traditional zoos, it was closed. At the summit of the fountain are sculptures of four large bulls and three women—a central figure representing the Durance flanked by one who represents grapes and one who represents wheat and fertility. Behind the women, within the central structure of the palace, is a manmade stone grotto decorated with carved

stalactites A stalactite (, ; from the Greek 'stalaktos' ('dripping') via ''stalassein'' ('to drip') is a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or man-made structures such as bridges and mines. Any material that is soluble ...

and nymphs. From beneath the three women and from the bulls, water flows into a secondary basin, and then into an artificial pond. The water drains out of the pond into underground pipes, from which it emerges in a waterfall-like structure, and in twelve ornate bronze fountains lined alongside it, flowing into a second, larger pond. The central feature of the garden behind the palace is a classic garden ''à la française'', which is known as the ''Jardin du plateau''. The garden also includes an

English landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...

, with winding alleys and many notable trees, including a 150-year-old plane tree and an oak and a Siberian elm that are both 120 years old. The area that was occupied by the 19th-century zoo still contains many of its picturesque buildings in fantastic styles, including oriental pavilions for the

giraffe The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, '' Giraffa camelopardal ...

and

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantida ...

, cages ornamented with Turkish tiles, and bear cages and seal dens decorated with ''rocaille'', or rock-work.

In popular culture

The music video of

Soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880& ...

's single, "Ils Nous Connaissent Pas" was filmed at Palais Longchamp in 2014.

Gallery

File:Marseille Palais Longchamp 16 20061231.jpg, ''Jardin du plateau'', Longchamp Park File:Feançois Gilbert - Griffon - Palais longchamp.jpg, François Gilbert sculpture File:Marseille Palais Longchamp 18 20061231.jpg, Former giraffe pavilion in the Parc Longchamp File:Marseille Palais Longchamp Wasserfall JD25032007.jpg, The fountain's secondary basin and middle balcony above the first pond File:Marseille - Palais Lonchamps 1890-1900.jpg, Longchamp around 1900 File:Marseille Palais Longchamp schraeg JD25032007.jpg, The ''château d'eau'' viewed from the middle balconies, looking toward the first pond and secondary basin

Sources and citations