Parc de Procé, Urban park in Hauts Pavés - Saint Félix neighborhood, Nantes, France.
Parc de Procé covers 11.3 hectares on the northern slopes of the Chézine valley in western Nantes. The Chézine runs 200 metres through the south-west corner, feeding two small ponds. The grounds are mostly lawns open to visitors, with the manor house in the south and an old kiosk in the upper part.
The manor at the heart of the park was rebuilt around 1830 by Marion de Procé, a shipowner and mayor of Saint-Père-en-Retz. In 1866 Gustave Caillé, a timber trader, had the grounds redesigned by landscape architect Dominique Noisette, giving the park its present layout. Caillé's heirs sold it to the city of Nantes in 1912 for 320,000 francs so that it would be preserved.
The park's name comes from Marion de Procé, a shipowner and mayor of Saint-Père-en-Retz who rebuilt the manor around 1830. The manor, the former centre of the estate, now houses a café-restaurant. In the upper part stands a kiosk moved here in 1995 from the former Salons Piou on today's boulevard Jules-Verne.
The park has six entrances: one to the north, one to the west, one at the south-west corner on place Raymond-Poincaré, two to the south and one at the south-east corner on place Paul-Doumer. The Chézine crosses the south-west of the grounds for about 200 m, feeding two small ponds before passing under rue des Dervallières. The upper part, with the stadium and the lawn of the Trocadéro statues, lies on the northern slope of the valley.
Seven allegorical statues stand in the park. Four limestone works by Étienne-Édouard Suc, moved here in 1941, came from the municipal fish market on Île Feydeau, demolished in 1939: L'Océan, Le Lac de Grand-Lieu and La Loire ou La Logne. Four tuffeau statues from the Palais du Trocadéro, demolished in 1937, stand on the upper lawn: La Botanique, Le Bûcheron, La Moisson and La Sculpture.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,399 contributors worldwide.
