The petition says the Jean XXII Garden was a refuge from the «hustle and bustle» in front of Notre Dame where tourists gather in large groups. Figures Credit: Studio Alma pour le Groupement BBS.
Parisians are furious at plans for a British-style garden around Notre Dame Cathedral.
Almost 10,000 people have signed the petition since Monday. against a renovation that would replace closed, walled gardens with open lawns and trees.
Citizens of the City of Light are complaining en masse that Paris is being «mutilated» and turned into an ordinary metropolis.
One resident said the designers «wanted Parisian squares to look like motorway service areas.»
Notre Dame, which burned down in 2019, is being restored in the same style as the original, but the council of the left decided to change the courtyards and gardens from the back and side of the building.
«Where people can.» sit and play children'
Bas Smets, a Belgian landscape architect, has won an international competition to renovate a 4,500 square meter space.
Mr Smets said he was «inspired by the British way of creating large lawns.» close to the church, where people can sit and watch it, and where children can play.”
The petition claimed that the project would transform Place Jean XXIII, one of the oldest gardens in Paris, and the Ile de France Gardens, which are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, into a permanently accessible «large space».
The gardens were fenced off in the 1840s and closed the night before the fire.
The unique space would lose its charm
The petition stated that Jean XXII's garden was a refuge from «the hustle and bustle». in front of Notre Dame, where a large number of tourists gather.
“If this project is realized as it is, these gardens with their unique identity will become one large, homogeneous, open, uncluttered space without charm”, the petition says.
Claudine Moreau, who signed the petition, said: “I don't want the squares in Paris to look like motorway service areas. The secret garden must remain. Green spaces should not be open alleys with wood chip cushions.»
Notre Dame, burned down in 2019, is being rebuilt in the same style as the original, but the council decided to change the courtyards and gardens. Photo: Studio Alma pour le Groupement BBS
“This place was perfect the way it was. . I don't see the point in destroying it by turning it into a picnic area. We rebuilt the cathedral in the same way — let's do the same for the square,» said Vannina Pradal.
Frédéric Chassan said: «Can't we keep a little bit of history? I'm tired of open gardens, where everyone stomps and stoops, spoiling the grass and flowers.
“Paris is gradually disfiguring and will look like any other particular metropolis. So scary! This is vandalism,” said Karol Omnes.
«Let's preserve our French heritage»
Hildegaard Haug-Noel said: «A Belgian landscape designer should not have been chosen for this site, which for me is a place closely connected to the history of France.»
“Let's preserve our French heritage,” said Ivan Pabian, another supporter of the petition.
Denise Charensole, who has lived near the cathedral since 1961 and is now general secretary of the Notre Dame Defense Association, said that in 1968 the gates were removed and the squares were open around the clock.
, — he said. «A real battlefield, with uprooted plants and acts of vandalism, so much so that the gates were quickly restored.»
Combining two squares behind the cathedral and leaving them open to the public 24 hours a day. could spell the end for two sets of historic gates.
The Place Jean XXIII gate was built in the 19th century, while the Place Île-de-France gate is part of a Holocaust memorial complex built in 1964.
Jean-François Legaret, president of the Old Paris Commission, said: “ The gates are protected as historical monuments. The gate cannot be removed.”
Mayor under fire
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has been accused of sacking Paris in an obsessive desire to green the city.
She is now under arrest. pressure to abandon or change the plan for the territory of the Île de la Cité on the Seine.
Construction of the new public space is due to start next week and be completed by 2028. a project to combat climate change.
There have been talks of revisiting the plans for the garden, but the city council is insisting that changes to the yard be continued.
Trees will be planted and an underground car park , built in the 1960s, will be converted into a 34,000 sq. ft.
During a heat wave, rainwater will shed sustainable rainwater onto the pavers to create a micro-climate.
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