Jardin du Pré-Catelan, Botanical garden and urban park in Bois de Boulogne, France.

The Jardin du Pré-Catelan is a botanical garden in the Bois de Boulogne, in the Pré Catelan area of the 16th arrondissement of Paris. Its grounds were laid out between 1853 and 1858 on former stone and sand quarries dug to pave the new woodland paths. A paved path with low flat stone borders curves between tall trunks and open grass, and among the trees stand a 200-year-old purple beech, a Chilean araucaria, a southern magnolia and a sequoia planted in 1872.

Between 1853 and 1858, stone and sand were quarried here to pave the new Bois de Boulogne paths. After the 4-hectare quarries closed in 1858, Nestor Roqueplan turned the 8-hectare site into an amusement park with a landscaped garden by Gabriel Davioud and Jean-Pierre Barillet-Deschamps. The park was devastated in the fighting of 1870 and the Commune; only the garden survived.

The name Pré-Catelan refers to a cross at the nearby Croix-Catelan crossroads, linked by legend to the troubadour Arnault Catelan, killed in 1312 carrying a casket of perfumes and elixirs to Philippe le Bel; historians instead attribute it to Théophile de Catelan, hunt captain under Louis XIV. Since 1953 the Jardin Shakespeare has occupied the site of the old Théâtre des fleurs, with small themed gardens planted after five Shakespeare plays, where open-air performances are held each summer.

The garden can be accessed through several entrances from the Bois de Boulogne, with nearby bus stops and parking available. It is wise to wear comfortable shoes, as the grounds take time to explore.

Among the trees are a Chilean araucaria, a 200-year-old purple beech, a Magnolia grandiflora and a sequoia planted in 1872. The garden also inspired the Jardin du Pré-Catelan at Illiers-Combray, laid out by Jules Amiot, an uncle by marriage of Marcel Proust.