Luxembourg Gardens pair formal parterres, fountains and shaded paths with the French Senate’s palace. Marie de Médicis began shaping the estate in the early seventeenth century; later political upheavals and Haussmann’s streets reshaped its boundaries.
Quick facts
Marie de Médicis acquired the Luxembourg estate in 1612 and commissioned the palace from architect Salomon de Brosse; construction began in 1615.
The Medici Fountain began as a grotto around 1630 and was moved about 30 metres in 1862 when Rue de Médicis opened.
A beekeeping school was established in the Luxembourg Gardens in 1856, removed during urban works, and re-established within the garden in 1872.
Get directions to Luxembourg Gardens. Confirm the visitor entrance and current access with the venue before travelling.
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Guide
The octagonal basin in the Luxembourg Gardens looks like a place for stillness, but it has long been a stage for everyday Paris. Children steer toy boats across the water; readers settle into movable chairs; office workers, students and neighborhood residents cross the paths. Behind the garden rises the Luxembourg Palace, now home to France's Senate. Together they make a rare Parisian landscape where royal ambition, political history and ordinary leisure remain in view at once.
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