Friday Paris Site

The Jardin des Plantes in Paris has a rather unassuming name -- it translates as "garden of plants," which is not only banal but redundant.  But it's more than just a vegetable patch.  The Jardin has been one of France's top biological research facilities for nearly three centuries.

When it was founded back in 1626, it was called the Jardin du Roi (the King's Garden), and was basically the private plot where the King's physician grew medicinal herbs.  By 1650 it was open to the public as a park.

It was during the reign of Louis XIV that the place really took off.  The Jussieu dynasty of botanists turned it into Europe's main center for the study of plants.  This was the era when European traders were penetrating to every part of the globe, and plant samples made their way back to the Jardin for study.  This was entirely practical in aim:  all the new plants were evaluated for their commercial potential and medicinal value.

The Jardin grew under the directorship of the legendary naturalist Buffon in the 18th Century.  He annexed the Royal Zoo, added a museum, and expanded the whole Jardin complex.  He also put in a hedge maze.  The French Revolution brought changes, as the "du Roi" got lopped off at about the same time the Roi got himself cut short.

But the changes were only cosmetic, and the valuable collections were preserved.  In the 19th Century the Jardin's collections provided material for the work of Cuvier, Lamarck, and others.  And during the Seige of Paris in the Franco-Prussian War, the animals of the zoo provided material for the hungry citizens of Paris.  (The zoo was originally the standard "animal jail" type common in older city zoos, but got a makeover in the 1980s.)

Today the Jardin des Plantes is part of the French National Museum of Natural History, the core of a sprawling complex of institutions including Pierre and Marie Curie University, and the Museum of the Arab World among others.  Plus Buffon's mausoleum -- definitely a case of "if you seek his monument, look around you."