Parc de la Tete d'Or

Parc de la Tete d'Or ; Park of the Golden Head
	Park in Lyon
	Porte des Enfants du Rhône ( entrance of the children of the Rhône )
	Basic data
place	Lyon
District	Brotteaux ( 69006 Lyon )
Created	1857
	use
User groups	Botanical garden , rosarium , zoo
	Technical specifications
Parking area	117 ha
45 ° 46 '50 " N , 4 ° 51' 15" E Coordinates: 45 ° 46 '50 " N , 4 ° 51' 15" E

The Parc de la Tete d'Or ( German Park of the Golden Head ) is a city park in Lyon , one of the largest city parks in France . It is the work of the brothers Denis and Eugène Bühler and was opened in 1857, although the work was not yet finished. It was designed in the same year as Central Park in New York . There are a number of structures in the park: the large greenhouse (1865), the bicycle stadium, the guardhouse chalet des gardes (1894), the enclosure (1896), the collection of wine presses (1899), the memorial to the dead on the île aux Cygnes ( 1914–1930), the new rose garden (1961–1964). The park is managed by the municipality of Lyon and, with its 117 hectares, is considered the city's green lung . There are eight entrances, the most recent of which opened in 2009 to the Esplanade of the Cité internationale . The Lyon Zoological Garden is also located in the park .

history

The area on which the park is located today belonged to the Lambert family (1530) and was already then called "tête d'or". The domain des Grange Lambert is listed in a document from 1662 as the property of the hospice ( fr: Hôtel Dieu ) and the general heiress Catherine Lambert. The name Tête d'Or comes from a legend according to which a treasure chest with a Christ head made of gold was buried here by barbarians or crusaders . The area was formerly a flood zone of the Altflussarmen (French: Lone ) of the Rhône and the wetlands (in Lyon Brotteaux called) was fed. The flooding did not stop until the park was built.

Creation of a city park

View of the area before the park was created

The project to set up a city park in Lyon had existed since 1812. Various locations were considered (the Lyon peninsula , not yet fully populated at the time; the Fourvière hill ), before the decision was made for what is now the area that is the large one Part of the Hospices civils de Lyon (City Hospital). In 1845, the architect Christophe Bonnet presented a project for a city park on the site of the current park as part of the beautification of the La Guillotière district : “In order to be able to meet the urgent needs of a wakeful population, I used the wasteland and bushes of the Tête d'Or in a wooded area modeled on the Bois de Boulogne . ”This idea was accepted, especially since it corresponded to the intentions of the prefect (and then mayor from 1853 to 1864) Claude-Marius Vaïsse , who wanted to build a park to“ protect nature to give who have none ”. The site was bought by the Hospices Civils de Lyon in 1856 . In 1856 work began under the supervision of the Swiss landscape architects Denis and Eugène Bühler , as well as the civil engineer Gustave Bonnet ; they lasted five years. The park opened in 1857, although it wasn't fully finished. It is located in the north of the Les Brotteaux district on the banks of the Rhône. A dike was created with the excavation of the lake to protect the area from flooding.

A new city park

Parc de la Tete d'Or
Wild animals are conquering the new territory, here using the example of a squirrel
A gray goose is walking along a park path
A free lawn
The avenue to the beautiful view
The avenue of the great field

1857: The Botanical Garden of Lyon was originally ordered by a decree of 1754 by the French National Convention , which obliged cities with more than 300,000 inhabitants to establish Écoles Centrales . These Écoles centrales ( German: central schools) were obliged to teach science, literature and art. They had to maintain a history archive and a botanical garden. For this reason, the then mayor, Jean-Emmanuel Gilibert , issued an ordinance according to which a botanical garden was to be set up on the slopes of La Croix-Rousse . When it was set up within the walls of what was then the Couvent de la Déserte ( Desert Monastery ) in 1804, it quickly proved too narrow and was relocated to the park in 1857. He then had 4,000 plants. The botanical garden is located in the east so as not to impair the perspective of the park: they did not want to destroy the impression of the large and central meadow in the south of the lake. At the new location, departments for test beds, grass types, fruit trees and medicinal plants were set up. Today the garden extends over 7 hectares and has a collection of plants that can rival that of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris. At the beginning of the 19th century, excavations were undertaken to find the treasure of the golden head ; nothing was found and it was broken off in 1860.

1859: The orangery was moved to the park from the botanical garden on the slopes of La Croix-Rousse.

1861: A landing stage was set up on the lake. In the same year an animal enclosure was set up. The plan by the Bühler brothers included a room for sheep, a chicken coop and a cattle pasture. Little by little a zoological garden with exotic animals was created; the necessary building was set up. The last African department ( African level ) was inaugurated in October 2006 .

1865: The large greenhouse and the greenhouse for agaves were built according to the plans of the architect Gustave Bonnet .

1867: The park's water plan is presented at the World's Fair .

1877 to 1880: Renewal of the large greenhouses

1881: erection of the monument to the legionaries

1887: Construction of the Victoria greenhouse (destroyed in 1980)

1894: The Universal, International and Colonial Exhibition is held in the park. According to a law of August 28, 1884, the forts in the Tête d'Or and the Charpennes were demolished in order to create the north boulevard (now the Boulevard des Belges ). The chalet, the chalet der Garden and the cycling stadium were built. In the same year, the part of the park in the area of Villeurbanne was taken over by Lyon: the border between the two municipalities of Lyon and Villeurbanne divided the park for a long time. There was a strong rivalry between the two over cost and features. Jean Casimir-Perier , President of the Third French Republic (June 27, 1894 - Jan 15, 1895), ordered on Dec. 17, 1894 that the entire park should be in the 6th arrondissement (Lyon) .

1896 to 1898: The city wants to have a fence built to protect the park and to prevent uncleared goods from being concealed as vegetables into the city district (there was still the “city customs”, French: Octroi .). On November 5th, 1896, it was decided to install a concrete wall with an iron grille around the park. There was fierce resistance to this idea: On November 17, 1898, the 300 m limit was torn down. The work was completed with the construction of three iron gates: the Tête d'Or , Montgolfier entrances and the main entrance Légionnaires , also called Enfants du Rhône . The latter is the result of an 1898 competition that Charles Meysson won. The gate was made by the Lyon-based company Jean Bernard. It is 32 meters long and is supported by two pillars made of stone by Villeboy. The main entrance is 11 m high. The entire gate weighs 11 t.

1899: Construction of glass houses for collections, cultivation and palm trees

1901: Construction of the pavilions at the entrance to Tête d'Or

1904: The cowshed was built by the architect Tony Garnier . The stable was moved to Cibeins, now Misérieux , in 1914.

1913: A jetty is built on the lake

1917: Inauguration of the lion enclosure

1932: Inauguration of the tunnel that connects the Schwaneninsel with the bank

1961 to 1964: Establishment of a new rose garden

1964: Establishment of an elephant station

1968: Construction of the giraffe station. This is empty today because the giraffes have moved to the African department.

1981: On December 2nd there was an extraordinary litter of 25 anacondas .

1984: On April 11th a lioness (Sonia) forced her partner Sultan into the water of the enclosure after a dispute. For two hours Sultan tried to reach the bank using the stairs that were installed for this case, which Sonia kept preventing him from doing. Sultan eventually drowned.

1989: Establishment of a human rights department in the northern part of the park: monoliths were erected with texts from the declaration of human rights .

1991: Project to build a new entrance gate opposite the Cité internationale . The implementation took 10 years; the entrance is next to the rock grotto in which the "source" for the stream to the lake is located. (The spring whose course leads to the Pont Suisse .)

1995: On September 27th, a female tiger escaped from her cage. The park was evacuated and the tiger was discovered under a bush, where she had apparently taken refuge from the crowd.

2000: Work on the trees was carried out: Numerous old trees had to be felled because they were no longer stable and represented a danger.

2006 to 2007: Establishment of an African level in the zoological garden.

2011: Conversion (construction) of the sanitary facilities in a modern architecture with “wood and concrete”; one plant was provided with a special device for recycling the manure (back to nature).

2013: On October 28, 2013 the first Hartmann mountain zebra was born .

Park plan

Plan of the Universal, International and Colonial Exhibition of 1894 in Lyon

the park is laid out in the style of an English landscape garden, with open lawns and slightly undulating. It has a triangular shape. On the edge is a dike that separates it from the Rhône. A long promenade leads along the park to the garden of the amphitheater, Salle 3000 of the Center de Congrès de Lyon and further along the Rhône. On the east side of the Tête d'Or is the historic, elevated route of the Lyon – Geneva railway line, which leads to the Gare de Lyon-Brotteaux .

On the south side of the park there are chic villas on the Boulevard des Belges , all of which have a small entrance to the Tête d'Or in their garden.

The park itself consists of several sections: small alpine valleys with trees; a lookout point; a lake in a central location; a large green area; a small forest; Educational gardens (botanical garden, zoo); various play facilities. There are also four rose gardens in the park, a large greenhouse (surrounded by smaller ones) and a cycling venue (Velodrome).

The sea

A lake of 16 hectares has been created in the park. The water is pumped here from the Rhône. Are located in the northern half two islands four islands: Île des Tamaris (You can only be achieved with a bark.) And Île du Souvenir on which a war memorial in square was built form. It was formerly called Swan Island and was redesigned according to plans by the Lyon architect Tony Garnier and the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Larrivé (awarded the Prix de Rome in 1904 ) to honor the fallen of the wars. The names were engraved on the outside wall; the engraving was renewed in 2003. The island is accessed through a tunnel.

Île Gandhi: Access is via picturesque and exotic walkways.
Grande île: Consists of the wooded area of the Georges-Préveral cycle track and the Belvedere . The island can be reached either via a rock bridge over an arm of the lake or via a covered bridge , the Pont Suisse .

Zoological Garden

The zoological garden was established at the same time as the park. The zoo was initially designed as a teaching farm with some regional wild animals, as stipulated by the state. The offer increased over time and eventually a real zoo was created.

Today the zoo is home to animals from all over the world. It extends over an area of 6 hectares. A scientific collaboration with the École vétérinaire de Lyon has existed for a long time.

In October 2006 the zoo was completely redesigned. The African Plain was inaugurated; Here landscapers and architects have integrated the enclosures in such a way that nothing stands in the way of the curiosity of the visitors. There are 130 different animals to be seen on the 2.5 hectare site, including some rare and protected species.

Zebras in the African Plain
Zebras, giraffes and watussi cattle
Monkey enclosure in the Tête d'Or
Crocodile enclosure in the Tête d'Or

Georges-Préveral Velodrome

The cycling track (velodrome) was founded in 1894 at the World's Fair opened in the park. Races were held to demonstrate the latest models of bikes. In order to avoid expensive expenses for the necessary repairs, Édouard Herriot , the then mayor of Lyon, ordered in 1909 to convert the railway into a general entertainment center. In this way, the railway survived and was finally renovated in 1934.

She experienced great moments, such as the championship in 1989, which was the reason for a complete renovation. Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli won two world championship titles here: in the single pursuit race and in the points race .

Three clubs share the area and hold their competitions here. The Rhône-Alpes championships in track cycling are held here every year . - The schools in the neighboring communities also benefit from the facility for introductory courses and general physical education . The area is also suitable for other uses: as an athletics facility , for handball , basketball and volleyball .

With a length of 333.33 m and a maximum curve incline of 43 °, the concrete runway complies with the UCI regulations , so that international competitions can be held.

Rose gardens

The gardens go back to a donation from 1805: Joséphine de Beauharnais donated her rose collection .

There are three rose gardens in the park :

The "historical" rose garden in the botanical garden from 1980 with 570 variations on 1,600 m² allows you to follow the history of rose cultures. The restoration and inauguration took place in 2015 and offers three departments: European roses (the Gauls), Asian roses and finally the new varieties (modern hybrids).
The department for experiments and competitions, which was created on the basis of the old rose garden. There are new developments to be seen here and the most beautiful rose in France is chosen every year .
The new international rose garden from 1964 includes 60,000 roses in 320 variations as they are common in France and abroad. it extends over 5 ha.

This department of the park is also the seat of the Société française des roses .

Botanical Garden

Around 15,000 plants can be seen here, making this garden the most plant-rich garden in Europe and the first urban garden in France. It attracts specialists from all over the world. In addition to the greenhouses outside the fence, there are two special gardens: the alpine garden and the botanical garden. Visitors can follow the guided tours either into the rooms for adults or for children, where the garden's media service has appropriate offers to discover the world of plants.

Greenhouses

The big greenhouses

Despite their location and the special opening times, the greenhouses are part of the botanical garden in the broadest sense. The orangery, on the other hand, as a historic stone greenhouse, is no longer part of it. The construction is mostly made of wood and is therefore difficult to withstand the internal moisture. The new houses were built in 1880 under the direction of Gustave Bonnet . There are remarkable buildings that were built entirely of iron and glass and are exemplary for the 19th century.

♦ Outside the botanical garden:

The large greenhouses (three connected houses) with tropical plants. The houses were restored in 1970 and again from 1997 to 2000.
The heated little greenhouses with orchids and ferns
The unheated small greenhouses with horticultural plants
The heated houses dedicated to Madagascar's flora . They were opened to visitors in 2008 and are made of laterite .

♦ Inside the botanical garden:

The house for aquatic plants with water lily plants from Amazonia, the leaves of which can reach a diameter of 1.50 m.
The Dutch house with the carnivorous plants

The greenhouses cover an area of 6,500 m², making them one of the largest in France. They contain around 6,000 species of plants.

More Attractions

War memorial

The war memorial : It stands at the entrance gate of the same name, which is made of forged iron and is in the style of the 18th century. (built 1900–1901), partly covered with gilded leaves. Originally the park was not included; not until the end of the 17th century a grid with entrances was built.
Porte du Lycée , Av. Verguin
The sculpture La Centauresse et le faune in bronze by Augustin Courtet from 1849 at the Porte des Enfants du Rhône
The sculpture Ensemble pour la Paix et la Justice in bronze by Xavier de la Fraissinette. It was established in 1996 on the occasion of the G7 meeting .
The orangery was brought here stone by stone from its old location in the botanical garden on Croix-Rousse for reconstruction. It contains an exhibition on various subjects (artistic or not) by individuals or groups.
The Lambert farm can still be visited in the form it was built back then.
The dovecote

Further information

The trees

Trees in the Parc de la Tete d'Or
A tree that is reflected in the lake
Trees in the Parc de la Tete d'Or

There are more than 8,800 trees in the park: 36.5% of them conifers , 61% deciduous trees , 2.5% rare species. Some are particularly worth mentioning: there are plane trees 40 meters high, Lebanon cedars , tulip trees , ginkgos , real bald cypresses and giant sequoias . In order to be able to marvel at all these tree wonders, a special guide ( guide-promenade des arbres remarquables ) has been published, which is available at reception.

Some numbers

Height: 170 m
Average annual temperature: 11.4 ° C
Average January temperature: 2.4 ° C
Average July temperature: 20.6 ° C
Rainfall per year: 828 mm
Freezing temperature per year: 62 days

Entrances

The park has seven entrances, of which the "Porte des enfants du Rhône" in the south-west is particularly noteworthy. The names of the other entrances clockwise: "Porte de la Roseraie", "Porte du Musée d'art contemporain", "Porte des Congrès", "Porte Nord", "Porte de la Voute", "Porte du Lycée du parc" and "Porte de Tete d'Or".

Entry is free to the entire park, including the botanical garden. Only the cycling track is not open to the public.

The park opens at 6:30 a.m. and closes at 8:30 p.m. in winter (October 15 - April 14) and at 10:30 p.m. in summer (April 15 - October 14). Special regulations apply to the zoological and botanical gardens.

The park is wheelchair accessible (including greenhouses, zoo and botanical garden) except in the following places: Porte de l'esplanade de la Cité Internationale, Porte de la roseraie, access to the Alpine garden and the Île du souvenir. A parking space is reserved for their vehicles (car or minibus) inside the lakeside restaurant at the Villeurbanne archway (the parking space is intended for guests who have made a reservation.)

Since 2009 cyclists have been allowed to use the large passageways (avenues); this is related to the Velo'v rental station that has been set up . Surfboarders are “tolerated” in the northern area near the Espace droits de l'homme . There are pony carts for children in the Le Bois area .

Riders have been banned from the park since 1970. The stables were relocated to the La Doua district near Villeurbanne.

Note: In the beginning the park was also open to cars. However, there have been many accidents. In order to better identify the vehicles, it was decided in 1891 to number them: the owner had to put a number on the vehicle in a legible manner. At first the number was limited in time and was issued at the park entrance and had to be returned when leaving. However, demand had grown so much that almost every vehicle in Lyon had a number. This is how the world's first vehicle registration system was created.

Other facilities

Locomotive of the park railway

The park train on the way

There is a wide range of activities in the park: a (French) puppet theater , a small lake with boats for children ( Le petit Lac ), a train on tires ( le lézard ), a mini golf course , a pony riding facility for children, a boulodrome , a fishing game for children, a pedal boat harbor , two restaurants and two self-service restaurants, several kiosks.

There is also a small railway that runs on a circuit around the cycling track. It is kept in the "western style". The locomotive runs on an internal combustion engine.

The park in the film

The Park de la Tête d'Or has served as a backdrop in various films:

The Watchmaker of St. Paul (1974), film by Bertrand Tavernier
Tout va bien, on s'en va (2000), a film by Claude Mouriéras
Jean Moulin (2001), TV film by Yves Boisset
Détrompez-vous (2007), directed by Bruno Dega
Les Adoptés (2011), film by Mélanie Laurent
Pour une femme (2012), directed by Diane Kurys
Disparue (2015), small series

Individual evidence

↑ Louis-Michel Nourry, Lyon, le parc de la Tête d'Or , AGEP Éditeur, 1992, pp. 116/117

↑ Louis-Michel Nourry, Lyon, le parc de la Tête d'Or , AGEP Éditeur, 1992, p. 24

↑ ^a ^b Things to Know About the Park

↑ Louis-Michel Nourry, Lyon, le parc de la Tête d'Or , AGEP Éditeur, 1992, p. 31

↑ This is what it says on the information board at the park.

↑ Louis-Michel Nourry, Lyon, le parc de la Tête-d'Or , AGEP Éditeur, p. 75

↑ Charles Delfante , 100 ans d'urbanisme à Lyon , éditions Lugd, 1994, p 162

↑ Read up on the special page Vacherie du Parc .

↑ A Hartmann mountain zebra was born in the Park de la Tête d'Or in Lyon , report in the newspaper LE PROGRÉS of October 31, 2013, accessed on December 10, 2016

↑ Trade fairs and exhibitions took place on this dike. After moving to Eurexpo in the suburb of Chassieu , a very narrow street was placed in front of the main dike and the Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon was built on it. In addition, a housing estate with offices, apartments and shops was built, the Cité internationale (Lyon) .

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e A description can be found on the Lac de la Tête d'or page .

↑ ^a ^b There is a description on the page Lyon Zoo .

↑ This redesign was necessary in order to comply with the new safety regulations. The political requirements for free entry also posed problems that had to be overcome.

↑ see on the homepage: COMITE RHONE-ALPES DE CYCLISME

↑ ^a ^b It has the official name: Dedicated to the children of the Rhône, defenders of the fatherland , Monument des enfants du Rhône défenseurs de la Patrie , in memory of the soldiers who died in the Franco-Prussian War from 1870 to 1871.

^ Article in Libération by Isabelle HEULLANT-DONAT: Derrière la bataille des plaques, l'avenir des départements

↑ Children try to catch plastic ducks with the help of a fishing rod, duck fishing .

[1] Louis-Michel Nourry, Lyon, le parc de la Tête d'Or , AGEP Éditeur, 1992, pp. 116/117

[2] Louis-Michel Nourry, Lyon, le parc de la Tête d'Or , AGEP Éditeur, 1992, p. 24

[Lyon_capitale-3] Things to Know About the Park

[4] Louis-Michel Nourry, Lyon, le parc de la Tête d'Or , AGEP Éditeur, 1992, p. 31

[5] This is what it says on the information board at the park.

[6] Louis-Michel Nourry, Lyon, le parc de la Tête-d'Or , AGEP Éditeur, p. 75

[7] Charles Delfante , 100 ans d'urbanisme à Lyon , éditions Lugd, 1994, p 162

[8] Read up on the special page Vacherie du Parc .

[9] A Hartmann mountain zebra was born in the Park de la Tête d'Or in Lyon , report in the newspaper LE PROGRÉS of October 31, 2013, accessed on December 10, 2016

[10] Trade fairs and exhibitions took place on this dike. After moving to Eurexpo in the suburb of Chassieu , a very narrow street was placed in front of the main dike and the Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon was built on it. In addition, a housing estate with offices, apartments and shops was built, the Cité internationale (Lyon) .

[Insel-11] A description can be found on the Lac de la Tête d'or page .

[Zoo-12] There is a description on the page Lyon Zoo .

[13] This redesign was necessary in order to comply with the new safety regulations. The political requirements for free entry also posed problems that had to be overcome.

[14] see on the homepage: COMITE RHONE-ALPES DE CYCLISME

[Kriegerdenkmal-15] It has the official name: Dedicated to the children of the Rhône, defenders of the fatherland , Monument des enfants du Rhône défenseurs de la Patrie , in memory of the soldiers who died in the Franco-Prussian War from 1870 to 1871.

[16] Article in Libération by Isabelle HEULLANT-DONAT: Derrière la bataille des plaques, l'avenir des départements