Resumen de Le Belvédère du Jardin des Plantes de Paris
The Jardin des Plantes is one of the oldest gardens of Paris, incorporating more than 350 years of history. The Belvedere which was constructed by Guy de la Brosse, the creator of the garden in 1635, is the oldest of the structures there. Study of contemporary documents reveals that it shows a striking similarity to that of the Villa Medici on the Pincian Hill in Rome. Conceived to take advantage of the agreeable view over the countryside surrounding Paris, it is prominent upon the eminence which in its turn gives shelter, as in other botanical gardens, to those plants most susceptible to the local climate. In 1788 Buffon arranged for the erection on its platform of the first iron building known in France, the kiosk, also known as Buffon's Gloriette. This is the first construction of its kind, testimony to the innovatory taste of Buffon, the Maître des Forges, and without doubt was certainly instrumental in saving the Belvedere itself from destruction; for without the kiosk on its summit, it would probably have disappeared, slowly eroded by the weather. After the recent restoration of the kiosk, that of the Belvedere itself, in its original form of a cone-base, is envisaged in the near future.
