Labyrinthe du Jardin des Plantes

The Labyrinth of the Jardin des Plantes rests upon an artificial mound that was once a strategic lookout point for seventeenth-century Parisians. From this elevated position, visitors originally possessed an unobstructed view of the Bièvre River as it wound its way to meet the Seine. The river now flows entirely underground, but the height of the mound remains as a relic of that lost geography. Georges-Louis Leclerc, the Comte de Buffon, transformed this site into a formal garden during his long tenure as superintendent in the eighteenth century, deliberately layering the landscape to invite contemplative wandering among its winding paths.