Parc des Buttes Chaumont

Named after the barren hill that once stood on its grounds, the park was known as Chauve-mont or bare hill due to the poor chemical composition of its soil that made it almost devoid of vegetation. Until the mid-19th century, the area lay outside the borders of Paris and had a notorious past. It was home to the Gibbet of Montfaucon, a place where the corpses of executed criminals were displayed until 1760. After the French Revolution, the site became a landfill, a location for cutting horse carcasses, and a sewage repository. The noxious odors emanating from the site not only affected nearby neighborhoods but also the entire city, as per Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand, the director of public works of Paris and the builder of the park.

The area also included an old gypsum and limestone quarry that was used to construct buildings in Paris and the United States. The raw material from the quarry was used for a long time to produce plaster and lime by heating gypsum in furnaces. This activity continued until the second half of the 19th century when the quarry was exhausted. The same quarry also yielded fossils of Eocene mammals, including Palaeotherium, which were studied by Georges Cuvier.

Despite its unpromising history, the Prefet of Paris, Baron Haussmann, chose the site for a new public park to cater to the growing population of the newly annexed 19th and 20th arrondissements of Paris. The park was intended to provide a recreational and pleasant environment for residents.

In 1864, work commenced on a park under the guidance of Alphand, who utilized his extensive experience in designing the Bois de Boulogne and the Bois de Vincennes. It took two years to terrace the land before a railway track was laid to transport 200,000 cubic meters of topsoil. With the assistance of a thousand workers, the landscape was transformed, including the creation of a lake, shaping of lawns and hillsides, and sculpting of a mountainous former quarry using explosives. Hydraulic pumps were also installed to lift water from the Ourcq River to the promontory's highest point, where a waterfall was created for dramatic effect.

Next, the chief gardener of Paris, Jean-Pierre Barillet-Deschamps, was responsible for planting thousands of trees, shrubs, and flowers, as well as creating sloping lawns. Gabriel Davioud, the city's chief architect, designed various features that completed the imagined landscape, including a miniature Roman temple on the promontory's top, belvederes, restaurants resembling Swiss chalets, and rustic cottages used as gatehouses. The park opened on April 1, 1867, coinciding with the Paris Universal Exposition, and was instantly popular with Parisians.

The lake and the Île du Belvédère

At the center of the park lies a man-made lake spanning 1.5 hectares (3.7 acres), encircling the Île de la Belvédère. The island is comprised of rocky cliffs formed from the remnants of an old gypsum quarry, and atop it stands the Temple de la Sibylle, situated 50 meters above the lake's surface. The island is accessible via two bridges leading to a network of paths that surround it. Descending from the top of the belvedere, a steep staircase with 173 steps takes visitors through a grotto to the edge of the lake.

The Temple de la Sibylle

In the park, the Temple de la Sibylle is the most renowned feature. It is a small-scale replica of the renowned ancient Roman Temple of Vesta located in Tivoli, Italy. The original temple was the subject of numerous romantic landscape paintings from the 17th to the 19th century and inspired comparable architectural structures in the English landscape garden during the 18th century. Gabriel Davioud, the city architect for Paris, designed the temple as well as picturesque monuments for other city parks such as Bois de Boulogne, Bois de Vincennes, and Parc Monceau. He was also responsible for designing some of Paris's most well-known fountains, including the Fontaine Saint-Michel. The temple was completed in 1867.

The grotto and waterfalls

The grotto, located on the south side of the park next to rue Botzaris, is a remnant of the previous gypsum and limestone quarry that once occupied the area. With a width of fourteen meters and height of twenty meters, the grotto has been artistically designed to imitate a natural cave, complete with fake stalactites that are as long as eight meters. This type of creation was popular in the 18th and 19th century in the English landscape garden style. To add to the ambiance, an artificial waterfall cascades down from the top of the cave, fed by pumps, flowing through the grotto and into the lake.

The bridges

Access to the belvedere is granted through two different bridges. The first one, designed by Gustave Eiffel, stretches over 63 meters and sits eight meters above the lake. The second bridge is a masonry structure that spans 12 meters and is located 22 meters above the lake on the south side of the park. This bridge has been nicknamed the "suicide bridge" due to a history of tragic incidents. As a preventative measure, the bridge is now fenced with wire mesh.

Napoleon III envisioned the park as a garden showcase, and this vision still guides its direction today. The park cultivates over 47 species of plants, trees, and shrubs, many of which were originally planted when the park was created. The park features a diverse range of indigenous and exotic trees, including numerous Asian species such as Himalayan cedars, Ginkgo Biloba, and bamboo-leafed prickly ashes, as well as several cedars of Lebanon planted in 1880, Byzantine hazelnuts, Siberian elms, and European hollies.

The annual Silhouette Short Film Festival takes place in September at the park, showcasing French and international short films over a period of seven days. The festival culminates with an awards ceremony.

Inside the park, a modern take on the traditional Guinguette called Rosa Bonheur was established in 2008. The venue is a unique restaurant and dance space sponsored by the Mairie of the 19th arrondissement.

The park also served as a filming location for Eric Rohmer's movie, The Aviator's Wife, with certain scenes being shot there.