The Garden of the Ramparts

You’ve found the small, hidden garden nestled against Compiègne’s ancient ramparts. This quiet spot offers a peaceful walk and provides easy access to the remnants of the city’s walls. The first Carolingian fortifications only covered a small portion of what is now Compiègne. In the 13th century, under the Capetians, new ramparts were built to accommodate the city's expanded size. This wall, reinforced in the 16th and 17th centuries, had 19 towers. Later, under Henry II and III, bastions were added. Finally, in 1678, as invasions became much less likely, Louis XV decommissioned the ramparts and handed them over to local residents, who filled in the moats and transformed them into gardens. The garden of the ramparts, where you are now, occupies the former medieval ditches, which were once 16 meters wide and 10 meters deep. In 1910, Ferdinand Bac designed the garden, creating a maze of trimmed boxwood arranged in harmonious patterns. The remnants of the old ramparts have been listed as historic monuments since 1951.