Gardens of Avenue Foch
The Elegance of the 16th Arrondissement

Gardens of Avenue Foch
Metro: Charles de Gaulle-Etoile
Arrondissement: 16eme
Go Here For Great Hotel Discounts In This Area
Map of the Area

The Gardens of Avenue Foch, the Jardins de l'Avenue Foch, extend the length of Avenue Foch and cover 17 acres, 6.62 hectares, 66,200 square meters.

Avenue Foch was originally named Avenue de l'Impératice, Avenue of the Empress, in honor of Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III. Napoleon III wanted a majestic road-way designed befitting the elegance of the neighborhood of western Paris.

Work began on the Avenue de l'Impératice in 1855 and it was inaugurated on March 2, 1864. It was nearly one mile long, 1.5 kilometers, and more than 450 feet wide, 140 meters, which included the main roadway, two sides streets, one for pedestrians, the other for for horses, and two broad parkways separating the sides streets from the main 

Jean Charles Adolphe Alphand, the Director of Public Works, landscaped this "imperial route", the Gardens of Avenue Foch, with nearly 4,000 trees and bushes of a wide variety including plane tress, chestnuts, Japanese Sophoras, Siberian elms, Ginko biloba and Virginia tulips, some of which have survived to now be over one hundred years old.

On September 12, 1870 the Avenue took the name of Avenue du General Ulrich. On Feburary 10, 1875, it was renamed as Avenue Bois de Boulogne. It was named Avenue Foch after the celebrated Marshal Foch died in 1929.

Marshal Ferdinand Foch served as the Allied Supreme Commander of World War I. A memorial statue of him stands in the center of Place du Trocadéro in the 16th arrondissement, in front of the Palais de Chaillot.

Between the addresses of 17-21 of Avenue Foch, in the parkway of the Gardens of Avenue Foch, is a monument to Alphand, created by sculptor Jules Dalou and architect Formigé, inaugurated December 14, 1899. Also memorialized in this monment are Alphand's assistants; architect Huet, engineer Bouvard, painter Roll and sculptor Dalou. These figures are winged by a wall on which are sculpted in bas-relief construction workers and gardeners.

Scattered along the length of the Gardens of Avenue Foch are found several children's playgrounds.

On the sides of the Jardins de l'Avenue Foch are the elegant residences. Each building is uniformly enclosed with wrought-iron gated designed by Davioud. Added to these grills are metal sheets enhancing privacy and the barricaded effect.

The buildings along the Avenue are often adorned with sculptures in bas-relief.

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