Jardin du Luxembourg 🇫🇷

Located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the Jardin du Luxembourg—informally known as "le Luco" or the Senate Garden—spans 23 hectares. Situated on the hill historically called Mons Lucotitius, the public park surrounds the Luxembourg Palace, which currently serves as the meeting site for the French Senate. Celebrated for its tranquil atmosphere, the garden features expansive lawns, tree-lined promenades, formal flowerbeds, and a central octagonal basin known as the Grand Bassin.

The park was initiated in 1612 by Marie de' Medici, widow of King Henry IV, who sought to construct a residence and grounds reminiscent of the Pitti Palace from her native Florence. Originally encompassing eight hectares designed by Tommaso Francini and planted with 2,000 elm trees, the grounds expanded over centuries. Landscape design progressed through formal French arrangements under Jacques Boyceau de la Barauderie to expansions following the French Revolution by architect Jean-François Chalgrin. During 19th-century urban redevelopments under Napoleon III, architect Gabriel Davioud added ornamental iron fencing, an English-style garden section, a fruit orchard, and a diagonal path framing views of the Panthéon.

A defining feature of the park is its collection of over one hundred monuments, fountains, and sculptures. Raised terraces encircling the main basin showcase twenty statues depicting French queens and historic women, commissioned in 1848 by Louis Philippe I. Notable works scattered across the grounds include a small-scale model of the Statue of Liberty by Frédéric Bartholdi, alongside sculptures honoring cultural figures like Ludwig van Beethoven and Charles Baudelaire. The eastern side houses the historic Medici Fountain, constructed in the 1600s as an Italian-style grotto and later expanded with a long water basin flanked by plane trees and Auguste Ottin's sculpture of Polyphemus. Attached behind it sits the 1807 Fontaine de Léda.

Visitors to the garden can watch model sailboats navigate the Grand Bassin, attend performances at the marionette theater, or ride a vintage carousel. The grounds also feature a dedicated children's playground, an apiary, greenhouses, a rose garden, and an apple and pear orchard in the southwest corner. Art exhibitions are presented in the Orangerie and at the neighboring Musée du Luxembourg. To the south, beyond the gates at rue Auguste Comte, the central axis leads toward the Fountain of the Observatory in the Jardin Marco Polo. The garden opens daily between 7:30 am and 8:15 am, and closes at dusk between 4:45 pm and 9:45 pm depending on the month.

Jardin du Luxembourg in pictures