Palais du Bardo
The Palais du Bardo was a world exhibition building, which until 1991 was the most important architectural landmark of the Parc Montsouris .
The delightful orientalizing structure was built as a Tunisian pavilion for the Paris World Exhibition in 1867 . It was a scaled-down replica of the summer palace of the Bey in Tunis and was designed by the French architect Alfred Chapon. The city of Paris bought the building from Jules de Lesseps in 1868 for 150,000 francs and had it erected by the architect Gabriel Davioud at the highest point of the new park in the south of Paris. It only took Tunisian workers four months to do it.
The pavilion was initially intended to accommodate the technical facilities and staff of the navy weather observation station located in the park. It suffered from the fighting in connection with the siege of Paris (1870) and the suppression of the Commune (1871) but remained in use. From 1876 onwards, other scientific activities were also carried out in addition to weather observation, such as an astronomical observatory for the Navy or, from 1893, a laboratory to control the quality of the Parisian air. However, since 1974 the building was without function.
The condition of the Palais du Bardo deteriorated rapidly, but voices repeatedly rose calling for its preservation. The listed building was ultimately purchased by the State of Tunisia for a symbolic sum, and the Paris municipality agreed to contribute 15 million francs to the renovation. However, a major fire that broke out on March 5, 1991 put an end to these efforts.
literature
- Alfred Fierro: Dictionnaire du Paris disparu: sites & monuments: buttes, casernes, cimetières, clos, collèges, couvents, églises, folies, gares, gibets, hôpitaux, hôtels particuliers, îles, jardins, lieux-dits, ponts, portes, ports , prisons publishing house Parigramme, Paris 1998
