Parc Longchamp is a public municipal park in Marseille in France, surrounding the Palais Longchamp, the home of the city's museum of fine arts. The park is listed by the French Ministry of Culture as one of the Notable Gardens of France.The park is centered around the chateau d'eau and the fountain, which commemorates the arrival of water in Marseille by canal from the Durance River. The garden behind the the chateau is a classical Garden à la française, called the "Jardin du plateau." It also includes an English landscape garden, with winding alleys and many notable trees, including a green oak (120 years old), a Siberian elm (120 years old), and a plane tree tree (150 years old).
The 19th century zoo, which was closed in 1987, still has many of its picturesque buildings in fantastic styles, including oriental pavilions for the giraffe and elephant, cages ornamented with Turkish tiles, and bear cages and seal dens decorated with rocaille, or rock-work.
The Palais Longchamp was originally created to celebrate the completion of Canal de Marseille, which was built to bring water from the Durance River to Marseille. The Parc was designed by Henry Esperandieu, the architect of the palace, which was called the chateau d'eau, or water castle. The park was opened in 1869, at the same time as the palace. The park also contained a zoo, which was run by the city from 1898 until 1987, when, due to public disaffection for traditional zoos, was closed.
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