The Parc du Champ de Mar is a large green area of today 24.3 ha in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, originally used for military purposes and later used for exhibitions. At its north-west end, not far from the Seine, rises the Eiffel Tower, a remnant of the 1889 Universal Exhibition. To the south-west it is delimited by the Place Joffre and the Avenue de la Motte-Picquet from the École Militaire.
North of the Seine, the green space continues in the gardens of the Trocadéro.
The site, which was used for agriculture until the 18th century, was expanded as a parade ground after the École militaire was built (1765). For this purpose it was leveled and surrounded by a ditch and an avenue of elms. Until about 1780 its use remained purely military. On July 14, 1790, the pompous "Reconciliation Festival" (French Fête de la Fédération) took place here as part of the French Revolution: Louis XVI. took his oath on the constitution read by La Fayette in front of 300,000 spectators. A separate "Altar of the Fatherland" was erected for this purpose. On July 17, 1791, this was the scene of the so-called massacre on the Field of Mars. On June 8, 1794, the "Feast of the Supreme Being" (French: Fête de l'Etre suprême) staged by Jacques Louis David took place here, presided over by Robespierre.
The world exhibitions of 1867, 1878, 1889, 1900 and 1937 used the site. The site was first used for a national industrial exhibition in 1798. The fencing competitions of the 1900 Summer Olympics were held here. Most of the structural remains of the various exhibitions, such as a large Ferris wheel, have been removed over time. In view of the enormous development pressure, the Champ de Mars was acutely threatened by subdivision around the turn of the century 1900, but massive protests by citizens' groups ensured its continued existence as a green zone.