Grand Rond, Urban park in Toulouse, France

Grand Rond is a public garden in Toulouse, laid out between 1752 and 1754 as a vast circular roundabout about 200 metres across, from which five wide avenues radiate. In the 19th century the four-hectare space was turned into an English-style garden. At the north entrance stand two facing statues by Pierre Louis Rouillard, La Chienne enchaînée with her pups and the she-wolf.

The Grand Rond formed part of an urban plan by Louis de Mondran; the Capitouls approved it on 17 December 1751 and works finished in 1754. It was then an oval with six radiating alleys 58 metres wide. In the 19th century it became an English-style garden, and its 1785 wrought-iron gates, moved from the cours Dillon, are listed in the Palissy database.

The name comes from the English "bowling-green", after the lawns where Toulousains played boules. During the Revolution it was nearly renamed "Cercle des Sans-Culottides", but it took the name Grand Rond after a horse race on 29 July 1830. Today the wrought-iron gates of 1785, moved here from the cours Dillon, stand at the entrance.

The park is easily accessible by public transportation and invites leisurely walking throughout its layout. The pathways are wide and flat, making exploration straightforward for different types of visitors.

Two facing statues by Pierre Louis Rouillard open the north walk: La Chienne enchaînée with her pups, and La louve with a stolen pup. The chained dog, on its tiered pink-brown pedestal, is the one shown here. The bronze of Auguste Fourès that once stood at the entrance was melted down in 1942.