TheChamp de Mars (French pronunciation:[ʃɑ̃dəmars];lit. 'Field of Mars') is a large publicgreenspace inParis,France, located in theseventharrondissement, between theEiffel Tower to the northwest and theÉcole Militaire to the southeast. The park is named after theCampus Martius ("Mars Field") inRome, which was dedicated to the god Mars. The name alludes to the fact that the lawns here were formerly used as drilling and marching grounds by the French military.
The nearestMétro stations areLa Motte-Picquet–Grenelle,École Militaire, andChamp de Mars-Tour Eiffel, an RER suburban-commuter-railway station. A disused station,Champ de Mars, is also nearby.
Originally, the Champ de Mars was part of a large flat open area calledGrenelle, which was reserved formarket gardening. Citizens would claim small plots and exploit them by growing fruits, vegetables, and flowers for the local market. However, the plain of Grenelle was not an especially fertile place for farming.
The construction, in 1765, of theÉcole Militaire designed byAnge-Jacques Gabriel, was the first step toward the Champ de Mars in its present form. Grounds for military drills were originally planned for an area south of the school, the current location of theplace de Fontenoy. The choice to build an esplanade to the north of the school led to the erection of the noble facade which today encloses the Champ de Mars. The planners leveled the ground, surrounded it with a large ditch and a long avenue of elms, and, as a final touch, the esplanade was enclosed by a fine grille-work fence.
TheIsle of Swans, formerly ariverine islet at the location of the northeastern foot of theEiffel Tower, was, for the sake of symmetry and pleasing perspectives, attached to the shore. (The Isle of Swans discussed here should not be confused with theIsle of Swans that sits in the middle of theSeine downstream and around the next bend in the river, between thefifteenth andsixteenth arrondissements.)
Jacques Charles and theRobert brothers launched the world'sfirst hydrogen-filled balloon from the Champ-de-Mars on 27 August 1783.[1]
This place witnessed the spectacle and pageantry of some of the best-remembered festivals of theFrench Revolution. On 14 July 1790 the first"Federation Day" celebration (fête de la Fédération), now known asBastille Day, was held on the Champ de Mars, exactly one year after the storming of the prison. The following year, on 17 July 1791, themassacre on the Champ de Mars took place.Jean Sylvain Bailly, the first mayor of Paris, became a victim of his own revolution, and was guillotined there on 12 November 1793.
The Champ de Mars was also the site of theFestival of the Supreme Being on 8 June 1794. With a design by the painterJacques-Louis David,[2] a massive "Altar of the Nation" was built atop an artificial mountain and surmounted by atree of liberty.[3] The festival is regarded as the most successful of its type in the Revolution.[4] During theHundred Days a restored Napoleon held theChamp de Mai ceremony, during which he swore to uphold theCharter of 1815, at the Champ de Mars.[5]
The Champ de Mars was the site ofExpositions Universelles in1867,1878,1889,1900, and1937.
In 2012, theUnited Buddy Bears exhibit was held on the Champ de Mars, an international art exhibition with more than 140 two-meter-tall bears representing individual countries. They promote peace, love, tolerance and international understanding and are displayed across the planet. They stand at Champ de Mars in Paris, fronting the Eiffel Tower.[6]
Champ de Mars was used as a filming location in the 1985James Bond filmA View to a Kill, in which Bond (played for the last time byRoger Moore) drove aRenault 11 taxi which he had hijacked at theEiffel Tower in pursuit of a mysterious assassin, later revealed to be May Day (Grace Jones).[7]
Champ de Mars contains both abasketball court and afootball field. For the2024 Summer Olympics andParalympics, a temporary stadium known as theEiffel Tower Stadium (French:Stade de la Tour Eiffel) was erected atop the Place Jacques-Rueff, and hosted thebeach volleyball andblind football tournaments at the games.[8] TheGrand Palais Éphémère was built in 2021 at the south end of the Champ to host Olympic events and conventions displaced by the renovation of theGrand Palais.[9] Portions of theopening ceremony were held at the Champ.
.jpg)
| Grand Paris Zone | _-_2024-08-02_-_138.jpg) | |
|---|---|---|
| Paris Centre Zone | ||
| Versailles Zone | ||
| Stand-alone venues | ||
| Football stadia | ||
| Non-competitive venues | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
48°51′22″N2°17′54″E / 48.85611°N 2.29833°E /48.85611; 2.29833
_pictogram.svg)
