Paris Gigantic Wheel and Varieties Company 1898

The Grande Roue de Paris was a tall Ferris wheel built in 1900 for the Exposition Universelle world exhibition at

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Financing the "Grande Roue de Paris" happened by the creation of the "Paris Gigantic Wheel and Varieties Company" and selling the shares of this company. It was the tallest wheel in the world at the time of its opening. Théodore Vienne, the industrialist and founder of the Paris–Roubaix cycle race, was both owner and director of the Grande Roue de Paris. It was disassembled between 1920 and 1922 and rag-and-bone merchants used the pods as huts to carry on their trade. This evolved, through second-hand shops, into the antique trade that is now to be found on the site and known as the Swiss Village. The passenger cars were removed from the wheel and used as homes for French families when the region was devastated by

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

.New York Times Picture Section 5, Sunday, April 3, 1921 Almost 90 years passed between its construction and a taller wheel, the Cosmo Clock 21, being built in Japan.

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La Grande Roue de 1900 à Paris
* French wiki article re: Swiss Village * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grande Roue De Paris Former Ferris wheels Amusement rides introduced in 1900 Amusement rides that closed in 1920 World's fair architecture in Paris Exposition Universelle (1900) 1920 disestablishments in France Former amusement attractions 19th-century architecture in France