From Horse Slaughterhouse to Parc Georges-Brassens

Parc Georges-Brassens is dedicated to the singer-songwriter, who lived nearby. The archway at the entrance announces the site’s former function as a slaughterhouse and meat market:

The meat- and fish-processing complex operated for about 80 years from the 1890s until it closed in 1979.

As architects designed a park on the site, they preserved some of the features of the slaughterhouse, such as the gateway above. The iron-framed market stalls built during the 1890s were also salvaged:

These must have seemed to Parisians worth saving, especially after the debacle of the 1971 destruction of Victor Baltard’s pavilions at Les Halles.

To their credit, the park’s architects also rescued the clock tower and belfry, part of the old auction market:

View from the belfry:

The sculpture below pays homage to the workers, this one shouldering a slab of meat:

Another sculpture memorializes those in the meat industry who lost their lives in World War I:

Below, a water feature in Parc Georges-Brassens. Maybe this underground fountain relates to blood drainage from the slaughterhouse. Or maybe it’s just a water feature.

Terraced artificial rocks for children to clamber on, or for adults to sit and chat.

A public theater in the south-east corner of the park:

1889 sculpture of a donkey pulling a cart (not sure why it’s in the park).

At the main entrance to the park are sculptures of two alpha bulls by 19^th-century animalier Isidore Bonheur.

Next: Sculpture Park on the Seine

Camille Martin