Before being a park, the Montsouris plain was occupied by the quarries of Montrouge. A part of these was used to receive the bones of the many cemeteries reformed by the great Parisian works. A necropolis, the “catacombs” therefore brings together nearly 6 million souls. This past had left its mark, and the designers had to contend with a labyrinthine basement and the presence of two railway tracks. The 1870 war with Prussia complicated the situation. The park was nevertheless completed in 1878.
Created at the instigation of Napoleon III, the project was entrusted to Baron Haussmann. The emperor then wanted to provide a green space for each of the cardinal points of Paris, which he did, but after the fall of the Second Empire.
This vast project was entrusted to engineer Alphand, which gave birth to an English garden of 15 hectares and 1.5 km in circumference. The park still retains the marks of its past today through its steep drops.
In creating Parc Montsouris, Napoleon III wanted to be inspired by London parks. Green spaces played an important role there; they were considered as meeting places where all social classes mingled, a very modern vision that prevails again and more than ever today.
The Second Empire thus saw a wave of creation of large parks, including the Montsouris park, but also the Buttes-Chaumont park and the Jardin des Serres d'Auteuil, which are the most successful examples.
This wave was part of the ambitious program of major beautification and sanitation works by Baron Haussmann, Prefect of the Seine. It will profoundly change the face of the capital. For the first time, a Promenades and Plantations department, the ancestor of the current Department of Green Spaces and the Environment, was created in 1854 under the responsibility of engineer Jean-Charles Alphand. This 37-year-old polytechnician is also responsible for the development of the Bois de Boulogne and Vincennes. These works were intended to enhance the imperial prestige, but also to destroy unsanitary districts of Paris which were the main revolutionary centers of the capital.
The name of Montsouris would come from “Moque Souris”. It evokes ancient times, when the Bièvre mills were in decline and where the places were no longer inhabited by rodents.