Parc Barbieux, Public park in Roubaix, France
Parc Barbieux is a public park in Roubaix featuring ponds, streams, and waterfalls set across a large green area. The grounds also include playgrounds, pedal boats, and a restaurant for visitors to use.
The site began as an abandoned canal cutting: a direct Marque–Escaut link through Roubaix was decided in 1826, but landslides ended the central tunnel section in 1845. In 1859 Henri-Léon Lisot proposed turning the spoil heaps into a park; the city adopted the scheme in 1864 and Barillet-Deschamps drew the plans, built from 1879 and completed by prefectoral decree in 1905.
The park became a gathering place for the region after hosting the 1911 exhibition, reflecting how an industrial city wanted to offer its residents access to green space. Today, families and neighbors use it as a shared outdoor destination year-round.
The park stretches 1.5 km in a dip between two hills, split in two by the Avenue du Peuple Belge, which links the Avenue Jean Jaurès and the Avenue Le Nôtre. The southern part holds the elongated lake with the Île heureuse and the Île de la folie. Pedal boats and rowboats are available, along with pétanque courts, a minigolf and a children's merry-go-round.
The park's name comes from the Barbieurs family: Guilbert des Barbieurs was a 15th-century governor of Roubaix who held a fief on the hill, the montagne de Barbieux, where the park now lies. The failed canal tunnel shafts, called les puits de Barbieux, were later turned into a promenade.
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