Île de Versailles, Japanese garden on artificial island in Nantes, France
The Île de Versailles is an artificial island in the Erdre River featuring Japanese-designed gardens with water elements, rock formations, and carefully arranged plantings. A central building, the Maison de l'Erdre, houses exhibitions about river ecosystems and local maritime crafts traditions.
The island appears on a 1761 map as a marsh; from 1831, rubble from digging the Nantes–Brest Canal was dumped there, forming it. Bought in 1840 by Mr Le Gall, it was divided into plots and hosted laundries, tanneries, forges and boatyards for over a century. In 1986, after the city acquired the last parcels, works began on a Japanese-themed garden, completed under mayor Michel Chauty.
The name "Versailles" was given in 1878 and refers not to the palace but to a large estate called "petit Versailles", shown on the 1756 Cacault plan between the route de Rennes and the streets Châteaubriant and Adolphe-Moitié. The island itself was earlier called marais de Barbin, île Le Gall and île aux Singes. The Japanese garden was laid out from 1986 to a design by Jacques Dulieu, Claudine Breton, Michel Cormier, Michel Dudon and the landscaper Louis Soulard.
The garden is easily accessible on foot from downtown Nantes and features flat, simple pathways throughout the space. Plan your visit flexibly, as opening hours vary between summer and winter seasons.
The garden was laid out from 1986 on a theme of Japan, after a competition won by the team of Jacques Dulieu, Claudine Breton, Michel Cormier and Michel Dudon with landscape designer Louis Soulard. The city had just finished buying the last plots on the island, which had been occupied since the 1950s only by small river crafts.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,404 contributors worldwide.
