Marco Polo in France?

The other day as we rode from the church to China Town on the bus to meet some friends for lunch, we passed a very large and explosive fountain. So, on the way back home, we hopped off the bus to explore it. Much to our surprise we discovered the fountain, which is located just south of Luxemburg Gardens, is in the Garden Marco Polo!!! It is right next to the Garden Robert Chavelier de la Salle which contains several very nice sculptures. The land that the two gardens are on was previously occupied by the Castle Vauvert in the early 1200s. This castle was said to be inhabited by the devil, so King Robert le Pieux gave the land to the monks of Chartres in 1257. They kept it until they were driven out during the French Revolution, and it has now been developed as parks…

Most of us know that Marco Polo, the great explorer from Europe through Asia to China, was an important character, even in France. But do you know that Robert Chavelier de la Salle was the Frenchman who stomped around the Great Lakes, sailed down the Mississippi river into the Gulf of Mexico and claimed that watershed for France before 1687? (This area was later known as the Louisiana Purchase.)

The fountain in Garden Marco Polo Park, named “Fountain of the Four Parts of the World” is actually one committee assignment that turned out great! It was built between 1867 and 1874. There were four different artists involved, plus a different fellow managing the foundering.



The fountain in the Garden Marco Polo Park, named “Fountain of the Four Parts of the World” is actually one committee assignment that turned out great! It was built between 1867 and 1874. There were four different artists involved, plus a different fellow managing the foundering.

At the top of the fountain is a ribbed sphere decorated with the signs of the zodiac. Supporting the sphere are four dancing women representing four parts of the world. The woman with the thick curly hair and a chain around her leg represents Africa. To her left is the American woman with a pseudo head dress of feathers….a Native American. She is standing on the end of the chain of the African woman. To the American’s left is an Anglo-Saxon woman for the Europeans. To her left is a pigtailed Asian woman.




They are placed on a base decorated with beautifully carved garlands. Below the garlands, the fountain spreads out to contain four dolphins who spout water into a larger pond. Between the dolphins are eight spirited looking horse/fish. While the front end of the sculptures are beautiful horses that you can almost hear neighing, instead of back legs there are fish tales and fins to tie the front and back together.



To complete the fountain are eight tortoises standing on their hind legs spewing water over the entire sculpture. The first time we saw the fountain there was tan/greenish water going up and onto the whole fountain. Two days later when we went back for more pictures, the fountain had been emptied, totally scrubbed and was in the process of refilling. Because of this, the tortoises were only “spitting” a little clean water but we were able to get much better pictures of all the parts of the fountains.

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