Jardin du Ranelagh

The Jardin du Ranelagh occupies land that once served as a private escape for royalty. In the late eighteenth century, this area was part of the grounds of the Château de la Muette, where Marie-Antoinette frequently visited to dance and socialize away from the rigid court protocols of Versailles. The site was intentionally designed to mimic the fashionable pleasure gardens of Chelsea, London, which were named for the Irish diplomat and politician, the first Earl of Ranelagh. During the French Revolution, the park hosted political banquets where revolutionaries like Danton and Robespierre gathered to celebrate. By the early nineteenth century, the site experienced a darker turn when Russian soldiers occupying Paris used the ballroom as a stable and a hospital, leading to the eventual destruction of the original pleasure buildings in a hurricane.