Talk:Canal (garden history)

Please note this was disruptively moved to Garden canal while on the main page, getting 2359 views under that name.

Vaux-le-Vicomte

 * 0 Vaux-le-Vicomte - Le Grand Canal ou Canal de la Poêle (2).JPG

On Boxing Day 2021 there was mention, in the DYK section on the main page, of canals as an architectural feature in gardens. There is mention of the Grand Canal in the Gardens of Versailles but no mention of Vaux-le-Vicomte, which in my opinion is odd as the Grand Canal in Vaux-le-Vicomte was designed by the same person who designed the canal in Versailles and is usually regarded as the inspiration. John Do'h 08:30, 26 December 2021 (UTC)
 * Even earlier French examples are mentioned, & the general tradition there. I lack a good source on other French canals apart from Versailles, or other continental ones in general. Johnbod (talk) 02:09, 27 December 2021 (UTC)
 * Although I see your point, I can not help but feel that an injustice has been done to Vaux-le-Vicomte. Nicolas Fouquet built Vaux-le-Vicomte to impress the king. However his plan backfired and the king hired the people who built Vaux-le-Vicomte to build an even bigger (and more impressive) palace in Versailles. But I would not know - without doing some research - how to reference that.


 * The Grand Canal in Vaux-le-Vicomte is also known as La Poêle, which means something like frying pan (a pan with a big handle). I have included a picture (from the commons).
 * John Do'h 14:13, 29 December 2021 (UTC)
 * Thanks - if I find decent sources I'll be happy to add stuff later. Dutch/German/Central European ones are also missing. I notice that the waterworks at VlV are only some 7-8 years earlier than the St James's Park canal. Johnbod (talk) 14:19, 29 December 2021 (UTC)


 * It will be obvious that I am interested in these architectural features, but I am also familiar with the Wikipedia process of referencing. These features are very much examples of what was in vogue at the time. There are certainly cultural differences. I am a great lover of the work of William Robinson, which the French call Jardin a l'Anglais, but which really means a garden which looks unkempt. Making big garden canals often meant diverting local streams (much to the chagrin of locals who needed the water supply). And some of the architects got it wrong. Like Capability Brown (who has an uncanny resemblance to André Le Nôtre, who built these Grand Canals) in Stowe. Although these canals are everywhere, as you stated in most of Europe, referencing will not be easy. John Do'h 15:10, 29 December 2021 (UTC)