Parc Matisse, Urban park in Lille, France

Parc Matisse is a large urban park in Lille, located next to Lille-Europe station, with open meadows, walking paths, and several distinct vegetation zones. The grounds mix maintained areas with wilder sections where plants grow more freely.

Parc Matisse was laid out between 1996 and 2003 in the first phase of Euralille's construction, on the glacis of Lille's fortifications decommissioned in 1919, beside the porte de Roubaix and the Souham barracks. The site was crossed by a road closed to motor traffic when the park was created; the tramway F ran through it from 1876 to 1956, and its rails survive as vestiges at the gate. Gilles Clément designed the park, partly applying his Tiers paysage concept.

The park's name honours Henri Matisse, born in 1869 at Le Cateau-Cambrésis in the region. Its four zones carry literary and geographical names: the Île Derborence refers to the virgin forest beside Lake Derborence in Switzerland, and its outline is an inverted copy of the Île des Antipodes in the Pacific. The allée du petit Mongy recalls the ELRT tram line 2 that once ran here.

The park lies between the Porte de Roubaix and Lille-Europe station, in the Euralille district. The old road through the Porte de Roubaix was closed to motorized traffic when the park was created, and the passage stays open to pedestrians; tram line F ran here from 1876 to 1956, and its rails remain visible at the gate exit.

A raised section called Île Derborence sits about 23 feet (7 meters) above ground level inside the park and is completely off-limits to visitors. This enclosed area is left entirely to nature, allowing wild plants and animals to develop without any human interference.