Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/91

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

PARIS 81 with the names of 384 generals and 96 vic- tories. Its most striking sculptured decora- tions are four groups of colossal figures in high relief, one of which, by Rude, symbol- izing the departure of the recruits for the army Arc de Triomphe de 1'^toile. in 1792, seems inspired by the patriotic fight- ing force and passion of that time. Radia- ting from the place de Tfitoile are ten broad avenues. One of these is the avenue Bois de Boulogne (formerly de rimperatrice), a mile long and 300 ft. wide. It consists of a carriage- way, footwalks, and a bridle road, and is bor- dered by continuous gardens, beyond which on either hand is again a carriage road, and yet beyond gardens and villas. This leads to the Bois de Boulogne, a park of 2,500 acres, just outside the fortifications. Laid out since 1852 in the modern style of landscape garden- ing, its broad roads, mazy paths, and shaded groves are the resort of all classes of Parisians. Within its boundaries are artificial lakes, of which the largest is three fourths of a mile long, a respectable waterfall, two race courses, and the jardin cTacclimatation. This last, occupying 33 acres, tastefully laid out, is a model in its kind. The only other of the large "exterior" parks of Paris, besides the Bois de Boulogne, is the park of Vincennes, on the n side of the city. (See PARK, and VIN- KS.) The jardin des plantes, a botanical garden with zoological museum and menagerie, much like the zoological gardens of London, is on the left bank of and near the river, in the . part of the city. ^It is a parallelogram f 57 acres, and is admirably laid out and kept. The menagerie is one of the most perfect in the world. The gardens of the Luxembourg are also on the left bank, in the quarter and the palace of that name. They cover 85 are beautifully laid out, and have some illy fine alleys of trees and flowers. The Nfonoeaux, at the extremity of the boule- vard de Malesherbes, is another pleasant gar- den, its present tasteful arrangement being the result of quite recent improvements by the municipality. Many of the squares through- out the city have something of the character of small parks, from the shade trees and flow- ers with which they are embellished; nearly all the larger ones have fountains, generally very tasteful and beautiful. Among the pub- lic places of Paris which have nothing of the park-like character, but are generally merely paved squares, the chief are, besides the places de la Concorde, du Carrousel, and others al- ready mentioned, the place de 1'Hotel de Ville, one of the largest ; place de la Bastille, on the site of that fortress, embellished by the tall "column of July," a bronze pillar 154 ft. high dedicated to the citizens who fell in the revo- lution of 1830; the place Vend6me, with the famous column Venddme in its centre, a shaft 143 ft. high, of stone covered with bronze, on which are bass reliefs commemorative of Napoleon's campaigns in 1805, the whole be- ing in imitation of the column of Trajan at Rome; the broad place du Palais Royal, S. of the Palais Royal and between it and the Louvre ; the place du Chateau d'Eau, between the boulevards du Temple and St. Martin, an irregular but extensive open place ; the place de 1'Opera, deriving its chief beanty from the great opera house, before which it lies; the place du Tr6ne, an extensive place, but away from most of the centres of activity ; the place du Trocadero, a fine and elevated place opposite the Champ de Mars; the place Notre Dame, before the cathedral of that name ; the place St. Michel, on the left bank opposite the island ; the place des Victoires, with an equestrian statue of Louis XIV. ; the place du Chatelet, &c. Among the open spaces of the city, the Champ de Mars deserves special mention. It is an extensive parade ground, about 1,000 yards by 500, on the left bank of the Seine, between the river and the military school. It was laid out in 1790, and the rampart of turf around it was completed in the week between July 7 and 14 of that year, by 60,000 volunteers, men and women, who worked night and day in their eagerness to prepare the field for the great fete de la federation when the king swore al- legiance to the constitution. It has been the scene of many very remarkable historic events, and is now used for great reviews, &c. The buildings of the universal exposition of 1867 were erected upon it, but the greater part have been removed. The bridges of Paris, 26 in number, are as follows, named in the order in which they cross the Seine, beginning at the entry of the river into the city : ponts National, de Bercy, d'Austerlitz, de Constan- tine, de la Tournelle (left of the ile St. Louis), Marie, Louis Philippe (these two right of the ile St. Louis), St. Louis (connecting the two islands), de 1'Archeveche, au Double, St. Charles, St. Michel (these four on the left of the ile de la Cite), d'Arcole, Notre-Dame, au Change (these three on the right of the ile),