The Parc de Belleville, one of the parks and gardens of the

20th arrondissement The 20th arrondissement of Paris (known in French as the ''XXe arrondissement de Paris'' or simply as "''le vingtième''") is the last of the consecutively numbered arrondissements of the capital city of France. Also known as Ménilmontant () af ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

, is situated between the

Parc des Buttes Chaumont The Parc des Buttes Chaumont () is a public park situated in northeastern Paris, France, in the 19th arrondissement. Occupying , it is the fifth-largest park in Paris, after the Bois de Vincennes, Bois de Boulogne, Parc de la Villette and Tuile ...

and the

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figure ...

Description

The Parc de Belleville is located on the hill of Belleville, its 108 metres making it the highest park in Paris. At the summit of the park, an almost thirty-metre tall terrace provides a panoramic view of the city. The park was conceived by the architect François Debulois and the landscaper Paul Brichet. It was inaugurated in 1988. The park offers 1200 trees and shrubs, a 100-metre-long waterfall fountain (the longest in Paris), and 1000 m² of lawn accessible to the public. It also contains a wooden playground for children, ping-pong tables and an open-air theatre. At the top of the park lies the Maison de l'Air, a small museum designed to educate visitors to the importance of fresh air and to the problems of pollution. The park also prides itself on its display of annual flowers. The gardeners prepare the flower beds two years in advance, in tight collaboration with the horticultural center of Rungis. Their compositions have received prizes numerous times at th
Concours des Décorations Florales Estivales
(Summer Floral Decoration Competition), which takes place each year in September.

History

In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, numerous religious communities acquired plots of land on the hill. They cleared fields, planted grape vines, and tapped numerous springs. Taverns and ''

guinguettes The guinguette was a popular drinking establishment in the suburbs of Paris and of other cities in France. Guinguettes would also serve as restaurants and often as dance venues. The origin of the term comes from ''guinguet'', indicating a local ...

'' competed for places there from the fourteenth to eighteenth century. In the mid-eighteenth century, the celebrated publican Ramponneau's tavern "Au Tambour Royal"Jean Ramponneau is commemorated in ''rue Ramponneau''. served a young, slightly effervescent wine made from the Belleville grapes called

Piquette Piquette is a French wine term which commonly refers to a vinous beverage produced by adding water to grape pomace but sometimes refers to a very simple wine or a wine substitute. From pomace If water is added to the pomace remaining after grap ...

. Over time this use has changed and the name now refers to a drink made from

pomace Pomace ( ), or marc (; from French ''marc'' ), is the solid remains of grapes, olives, or other fruit after pressing for juice or oil. It contains the skins, pulp, seeds, and stems of the fruit. Grape pomace has traditionally been used to pro ...

and water, and is figuratively used to refer to a bad wine. The opening of a

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywal ...

quarry in the nineteenth century attracted a population of seasonal workers (often stonemasons), who worked on

Baron Haussmann Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

's construction projects during the winter and returned home in the summer to tend their fields. The area was deemed insalubrious, which didn't improve with the closing of the quarry. In the 19th century, the cottages which at the time stood on both sides of the steps leading up to the present-day park gave the hill an appearance similar to that of

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

. They belonged to Julien Lacroix, one of the most important landowners of the hill of Belleville, and a street which runs alongside the park now bears his name. At this time, a grand party was organized each year on the hill for Mardi Gras. On the last day of the carnival, Mardi Gras, all of Paris came ''en masse'' to witness the "descente de la Courtille", one of the three major Mardi Gras processions named after the cheap restaurants that lined the rue de Belleville. Among them, "''Le coq Hardi''" (The Hardy Rooster) and "''La carotte filandreuse''" (The Coriaceous Carrot), were well known for the drinking binges of their patrons. At the end of the 20th century, the cottages disappeared, giving way to more modern buildings and the Parc de Belleville. A vineyard growing Pinot Meunier vines from

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...

and Chardonnay vines from Burgundy still lies at the top of the park as a reminder of the area's viticultural history.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parc De Belleville Belleville, Paris Belleville, Parc de 20th arrondissement of Paris