Palais Longchamp

<h2 id="history">History</h2>
<p>The Palais Longchamp was created to celebrate the construction of the <a href="/facts/Canal_de_Marseille/w9CxBCjm">Canal de Marseille</a>, which was built to bring water from the river <a href="/facts/Durance/CJa6g1GN">Durance</a> to <a href="/facts/Marseille/kj7te1HG">Marseille</a>. Although the foundation stone was laid by the Duke of Orleans on 15 November 1839, the building took 30 years to complete, partly because of the enormous expense and partly because of difficulties with local regulations. Designed by the architect <a href="/facts/Henri-Jacques_Esp%C3%A9randieu/KkJlHlxy">Henri-Jacques Espérandieu</a>, the building was centered on the structure and elaborate fountain known as the <i>château d'eau</i> ("water tower").
</p>
<h2 id="description">Description</h2>

<p>The Palais Longchamp has three main parts:
</p>
<ul><li>The <i>château d'eau</i></li>
<li>The east wing, which houses the <a href="/facts/Mus%C3%A9e_des_Beaux-Arts_de_Marseille/kzvrrCLX">Musée des Beaux-Arts</a></li>
<li>The west wing, which houses the <a href="/facts/Mus%C3%A9um_d%E2%80%99histoire_naturelle_de_Marseille/CFrhKSSD">Museum d'Histoire Naturelle</a></li></ul>
<h2 id="park">Park</h2>
<p>Longchamp Park was opened in 1869, at the same time as the palace; in addition, the art and natural-history collections, which had been housed elsewhere, moved into the palace at this time. The park also contained a zoo, which was run by the city from 1898 until 1987, when, because of public disaffection with traditional zoos, it was closed.
</p><p>At the summit of the fountain are sculptures of four large bulls and three women—a central figure representing the Durance flanked by one who represents grapes and one who represents wheat and fertility. Behind the women, within the central structure of the palace, is a manmade stone grotto decorated with carved <a href="/facts/Stalactites/dba1MBF0">stalactites</a> and <a href="/facts/Nymphs/IfccICyh">nymphs</a>. From beneath the three women and from the bulls, water flows into a secondary basin, and then into an artificial pond. The water drains out of the pond into underground pipes, from which it emerges in a waterfall-like structure, and in twelve ornate bronze fountains lined alongside it, flowing into a second, larger pond.
</p><p>The central feature of the garden behind the palace is a classic <a href="/facts/Garden_%C3%A0_la_fran%C3%A7aise/Holnkkf7">garden <i>à la française</i></a>, which is known as the <i>Jardin du plateau</i>. The garden also includes an <a href="/facts/English_garden/NPoHHruP">English landscape garden</a>, with winding alleys and many notable trees, including a 150-year-old <a href="/facts/Plane_tree/7bKQWPHo">plane tree</a> and an <a href="/facts/Oak/1NJJzkzB">oak</a> and a <a href="/facts/Siberian_elm/DKyb1F4b">Siberian elm</a> that are both 120 years old.
</p><p>The area that was occupied by the 19th-century zoo still contains many of its picturesque buildings in fantastic styles, including oriental pavilions for the <a href="/facts/Giraffe/up0Jqouf">giraffe</a> and <a href="/facts/Elephant/6prrEFFK">elephant</a>, cages ornamented with Turkish tiles, and bear cages and seal dens decorated with <i>rocaille</i>, or rock-work.
</p>
<h2 id="in-popular-culture">In popular culture</h2>
<p>The music video of <a href="/facts/Soprano_(rapper)/AUq6ayKz">Soprano</a>'s single, "Ils Nous Connaissent Pas" was filmed at Palais Longchamp in 2014.
</p>
<h2 id="gallery">Gallery</h2>

<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Marseille_Observatory/HE11mxUV">Marseille Observatory</a> (Now an astronomical museum and planetarium nearby to the palais)</li></ul>
<h2 id="sources-and-citations">Sources and citations</h2>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Palais Longchamp.

<ul><li><a href="http://www.parcsetjardins.fr/provence_alpes_cote_d_azur/bouches_du_rhone/parc_longchamp-489.html">Page from the site of the French Committee of Parks and Gardens</a></li></ul>

Palais Longchamp open-in-new

Palais Longchamp