Parc de Saint-Cloud

The Parc de Saint-Cloud (Park of Saint-Cloud), officially the Domaine national de Saint-Cloud (National estate of Saint-Cloud), is a domaine national (national estate) located mostly within the Saint-Cloud commune, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, near Paris, France.

The park, which covers 460 ha, was a nature reserve on the left bank of the Seine until 1923. It was centred around the former Château de Saint-Cloud, home of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (1640–1701), which was destroyed by French bombing in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War. The château was the meeting place of the Council of Five Hundred and Council of Ancients on 10 November 1799, the day following Napoleon's Coup of 18 Brumaire.

In 2005 Parc de Saint-Cloud was awarded the Notable Garden status. On 9 November 1994 it was classified as a Historical Monument. In 1999 a winter storm heavily damaged the park's forests. The park is operated as a domaine national under the Ministry of Culture's Centre des monuments nationaux (CMN).

History
The park is located on the site of the Château de Saint-Cloud, a residence of royal and imperial families from the 16th century. After Napoleon III declared war on the Prussians, the site was occupied by a Prussian force which used the high outcropping to shell Paris. Counter-fire from the French caused the building to burn on 13 October 1870. The structure was completely razed in August 1892.

Only a few outbuildings remain from the original structure. The park contains a Le Nôtre-designed garden in the French style, an English garden, and Marie Antoinette's rose garden.

The park showcases a panoramic view of Paris called "La Lanterne" or the "Lantern of Demosthenes".



Buildings and points of interest

 * Musée du château de Saint-Cloud: A five-room museum dedicated to the destroyed chateau
 * École Normale Supérieure (E.N.S.): Located in the Pavillon Valois
 * Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (B.I.P.M.): The International Bureau of Weights and Measures is located in the Pavillon de Breteuil; the building contains copies of the metre and kilogram standards.

Access
The park is accessible via Pont de Sèvres and Boulogne - Pont de Saint-Cloud metro stations. The T2 tramway runs along the eastern limit of the park.