Parc Meissonier, Public park in Poissy, France.
Parc Meissonier is a twelve-hectare English-style garden in Poissy, bordered north by the avenue du Bon Roi Saint-Louis, where its main entrance opens, and south by the avenue Blanche de Castille. It holds a large water body lined with bald cypresses and plane trees, a rose garden and many notable trees. Since 2020 it has housed the Maison de Fer.
The garden occupies the former estate of the Dominican abbey of Poissy, which disappeared after the Revolution. In the 19th century it belonged to the painter Ernest Meissonier, mayor of the town in 1878, who never owned it but lived in a house in the adjoining enclos de l'Abbaye. It was given to the town in 1952.
The park is named after Ernest Meissonier, who was mayor of Poissy in 1878 but never owned the land; he lived in a house in the adjoining Abbaye enclosure. A statue of the painter by Antonin Mercié, brought from the Louvre reserves, was placed at the entrance on avenue du Bon Roi Saint-Louis in 1980.
The main entrance is on avenue du Bon Roi Saint-Louis, north of the grounds; the park stretches south to avenue Blanche de Castille and borders the enclos de l'Abbaye toward the town centre and the parc de Villard to the west. The Maison de Fer has stood inside the park since 2020. Paths run along the stream that drains the water toward the Seine.
The park's central pond is fed by a network of five natural springs, an engineering feature that has sustained the space for centuries. Originally this water feature was designed as a fish reservoir to supply the nearby priory's kitchens.
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