History of Tuileries Garden

1564

Catherine de’ Medici created the palace and garden.

The Louvre dates the beginning of the Tuileries story to 1564, when Catherine de’ Medici commissioned a new palace and garden outside the city walls. The name came from the tile-making workshops — tuileries — that had occupied the area.

1664

André Le Nôtre reshaped the garden.

A century later, Louis XIV’s landscape gardener André Le Nôtre completely redesigned the Tuileries. The strong axis, terraces and formal geometry that define the garden today come from this tradition of French formal garden design.

PUBLIC GARDEN

Royal landscape became public space.

The Louvre notes that the garden was opened to “respectable folk” in the seventeenth century, then experienced periods of modification and partial privatisation under later regimes. It was opened to the general public in 1871.

The palace itself did not survive: after being burned during the Paris Commune in 1871, its ruins remained until demolition in 1883. The open axis between the Louvre and garden now makes that vanished palace surprisingly easy to forget.

TODAY

A historic garden that still changes.

The garden remains a living landscape rather than a frozen monument. Planting, sculpture, public events and restoration continue to change how visitors experience the historic plan. The Louvre has managed the Tuileries since 2005.