Jardin Arnaud Beltrame, Urban park in Quartier des Archives, Paris, France.
Jardin Arnaud Beltrame occupies the inner courtyard of the former Minimes gendarmerie barracks at 12 rue de Béarn, with further entrances on rue des Minimes, rue des Tournelles and rue Saint-Gilles. The courtyard is paved with light grey square slabs, crossed by the allée Arnaud-Beltrame and set with grass strips and sixteen corded alders; a low circular stone feature sits near the centre, and the cream-stone facade with round-arched ground-floor openings and dormer windows closes the far side.
The site originally held a Minimes convent built in 1693, which closed during the French Revolution. It then served as a gendarmerie barracks from 1823 until 2019, when it was transformed into a public park.
The garden is named after Arnaud Beltrame, a colonel of the gendarmerie killed in the Trèbes terrorist attack on 23 March 2018. At its inauguration, the plaque reading that he was "victime de son héroïsme" caused a controversy; the family denied having approved the wording, and the inscription was later modified.
The park can be entered from several points throughout the neighborhood, and all pathways are wheelchair accessible. You will find a petanque court for casual play and shaded seating areas scattered across the grounds.
The sixteen alders in the courtyard are accompanied by a Japanese mulberry in the vegetable planter and Chinese lilacs and Belle Magnifique cherry trees along rue des Minimes. Part of the former barracks courtyard is reserved for residents of the new housing complex.
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