Jardins du Trocadéro

The Jardins du Trocadero owe their name to a battle in southern Spain from eighteen twenty-three, when French forces captured the fortified Isla del Trocadero. This site has seen several radical transformations to host world exhibitions, including the destruction of a massive, moorish-style palace that stood here until the nineteen thirties. The current gardens were designed for the nineteen thirty-seven International Exposition, a fair held during a time of intense global political tension. During that event, the massive, imposing pavilions of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union were constructed to face each other directly across these very grounds.