Le Jardin des Tuileries

Tour curated by: Elizabeth Camerota, Emma Coleman, Julia Jane Duggan, and Win Gustin

The Jardin des Tuileries is situated in the heart of Paris, directly on the Right Bank of the River Seine. It began as a royal space with the Palais des Tuileries, built to house French monarchs beginning in the late 16th century. Since then, the garden has become a largely democratic space which houses no longer kings and queens but historical monuments and images, including the Louvre, the Place de la Concorde, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, and several statues. This tour explores these historical structures and observes how the gardens are used by Parisians and tourists alike. It also compares the Jardin des Tuileries to other Parisian parks and French gardens, such as the Place des Vosges and the Jardin de Luxembourg. Examining various aspects of these parks provides a deeper understanding of how the Tuileries functions in modern day.

Locations for Tour

On August 24th, 1911, Leonardo Da Vinci’s now-famous painting – the Mona Lisa – was stolen from the Louvre museum. Though the painting hadn’t nearly the iconic presence it does today, the media frenzy the fiasco kicked up saw the painting – and its…

The Place du Carrousel, located near where the Palais des Tuileries once stood, can be an overwhelming experience for those visiting today. Vendors on all sides sell Eiffel Tower trinkets, bottles of water, and the priceless experience of being…

Le Palais des Tuileries got its name from “tuile,” the French word meaning “tile,” which referenced the tile factory that stood on the site. The palace, near the Louvre, was first constructed in 1564, under Catherine de Medici, King Henry II’s…

The gardens at the Château de Versailles were designed primarily by landscape architect André Le Nôtre for King Louis XIV in the late 17th century. The palace and the accompanying gardens were built on the site of a swampy hunting lodge constructed…

The collective works of Eugène Atget are a rare gift to the world that show what Paris looked like in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Atget was the ultimate flâneur, which allowed him to take thousands of photographs of Paris ranging from shop windows…

The Tuileries garden is truly a park where anyone of any age can go and enjoy what is around them. One can spot adults sunbathing or reading in chairs, teenagers laughing as they walk about, and children giggling on the several kid attractions the…

When walking around the Tuileries, one may begin to notice the statues popping up throughout the garden. Some of these statues are over one hundred years old, while others are much more modern. Eugène Atget captured several of the statues in the…

Perfect chairs for tanning, palm trees, and boats, one may think they have escaped the busy streets of Paris in the Luxembourg Gardens. Tucked in the middle of Saint-Germain-des-Pres, the Luxembourg Gardens is a place for leisure, movement and…

Here we have The Place de la Concorde, which was where Louis XVI was beheaded on January 21st, 1793. Louis had been held prisoner in the Temple, an uninhabited tower, since the monarchy’s collapse in August of 1792. The Temple was in the working…

Walking around the neighborhood of Belleville, you might be overwhelmed by the incredible hilltop views of Paris, the cheap boulangeries, or the readily available and delicious ethnic cuisine – but the Parc de Belleville might be overlooked. After…

When looking for a garden to contrast the stately Tuileries, almost nowhere is better than the Place des Vosges. While the Tuileries is centrally located in the first arrondissement between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde, the Place des…

Le Jardin des Tuileries is a vast park in the center of Paris which hosts many people, and thus it is filled with various sounds. As visitors walk through the park, they can hear vendors talking, fountains bubbling, children playing, and friends…