Bois de Boulogne facts for kids
The Bois de Boulogne is a huge public park located on the western side of Paris, France. It was built between 1852 and 1858 when Emperor Louis Napoleon was in charge. You can find it in the 16th area of Paris, close to the towns of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine.
This park is the second-largest in Paris, just a bit smaller than the Bois de Vincennes on the city's east side. It covers a massive area of 8.46 square kilometres. To give you an idea, that's about 2.5 times bigger than Central Park in New York and similar in size to Richmond Park in London.
What Can You Find in the Bois de Boulogne?
The Bois de Boulogne is packed with exciting things to see and do! It has a beautiful landscape garden designed in the English style, complete with several lakes and a lovely waterfall. There are also two smaller gardens focused on plants and scenery.
For animal lovers, there's a zoo and an amusement park, which are always fun. If you like plants, you'll be amazed by the complex of greenhouses, which are home to a hundred thousand different plants!
Sports fans will enjoy the two tracks for horse racing. Plus, there's a famous tennis stadium where the French Open tournament is held every year. It's one of the biggest tennis events in the world!
A Look Back in Time
The Bois de Boulogne has a long and interesting history. It got its name during the time of King Philip IV of France. He built a copy of a special shrine to the Virgin Mary there, which he had seen in the seaside town of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Over the centuries, several grand castles stood in or near the Bois. One was the Château de Madrid, built in 1526 by King Francis I of France. Another was the Château de la Muette, which was home to Queen Marguerite de Valois. Sadly, many of these old buildings were torn down after the French Revolution.
A very important event in history happened near the Bois de Boulogne. On November 21, 1783, the Montgolfier Brothers launched the first free manned hot air balloon flight from the Château de la Muette! Imagine seeing that for the first time!
The park has also inspired many famous artists. Painters like Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Édouard Manet, and Vincent van Gogh all created artworks showing scenes from the Bois de Boulogne.
Images for kids
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Bois de Boulogne as seen from the Eiffel Tower
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The plan of the park from 1879 shows the two straight alleys of the old Bois, and the lakes, winding lanes and paths built by Alphand.
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The Grand Cascade
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The giant sequoia tree in the Pré-Catelan, planted in 1872.
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The Bois received its name during the reign of King Philip IV of France, when he built a replica there of a shrine to the Virgin Mary, which he had visited in the seaside town of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
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The Château de Madrid in the Bois de Boulogne, built in 1526 by Francis I of France. It was demolished after the French Revolution.
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The Château de la Muette was the home of Queen Marguerite de Valois after her marriage was annulled by King Henry IV of France.
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The Château de Bagatelle was built by the brother of Louis XVI in just 64 days, in a wager with his sister-in-law, Marie Antoinette.
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The first free manned flight was launched by the Montgolfier Brothers from the Château de la Muette, on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne, on 21 November 1783.
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The artificial cliffs and grotto of the Grand Cascade became one of the most popular meeting places in the Bois De Boulogne (1858)
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Aerial view of the Longchamp racecourse before the construction of the Hippodrome (1854).
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Grandstands of the Longchamp Hippodrome (1854)
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The zoo and Jardin d'Acclimatation in 1860 was filled with exotic plants and animals
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The aviary in the zoo had a collection of rare birds (1860)
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Skaters in the Bois de Boulogne (1868), by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
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A horse race in the Bois de Boulogne (1872), by Édouard Manet
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Strollers in the Bois de Boulogne (1886), by Vincent van Gogh
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Students from a convent school by the lake in the Bois de Boulogne (1898)
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Bois de Boulogne cyclists, by Jean Baptiste Guth in Vanity Fair, June 1897
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An evening at Pré Catelan, the restaurant in the Pré-Catelan in 1909, painted by Alexandre Gervex
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The pond of the Bagatelle garden contains a wide variety of Nymphaeaceae, or water lilies.
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The rose garden of the Bagatelle is the site each June of an international competition for new varieties of roses.
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The Grand Cascade connects the two lakes in the Bois.
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The Kiosk of the Emperor on the lower lake.
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Winter scene in the Pré-Catelan.
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A cedar of Lebanon tree (cedrus libani) in the Bois de Boulogne.
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The garden of the Château de Bagatelle.
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A bear in the zoo of the Jardin d'Acclimatation.
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The greenhouses of Auteuil contain a hundred thousand plants.
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The windmill at the Hippodrome de Longchamp is a vestige of the old Abbey of Longchamp, destroyed after the French Revolution.
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The Hippodrome de Longchamp is the main racetrack of Paris
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The Stade de Roland Garros is the home of the annual French Open tennis tournament.
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See also
In Spanish: Bois de Boulogne para niños
