Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Massey Garden is a public green space located in the heart of Tarbes, in the Hautes-Pyrénées, in the Occitanie region. Created in the 19th century by botanist Placide Massey (1777-1853), this 13 hectare garden combines arboretum, nursery and public promenade. Massey, director of the nurseries of the Trianon and the Queen's vegetable garden in Versailles, bequeathed this garden to his hometown at his death in 1853, with the purpose of installing a museum of natural history there. The park, inspired by English, was enlarged after his death, incorporating a lake, a metal greenhouse of Napoleon III (1882), and the remains of a 13th- and 14th-century Gothic cloister from the Abbey of Saint-Sever-de-Ristan, which was built in 1890.

The garden is distinguished by its botanical richness, with 1,370 hundred-year-old trees (Lebanon cedars, bald cypresses, Virginia tulip trees) and 3,800 shrubs, as well as its statuary, among which the bronze statue L-Ouragan d-Edmond Desca, which sparked controversy in 1887 due to the nudity of the figure represented. Massey Museum, an unfinished oriental building designed by architect Jean-Jacques Latour, dominates the park. It was partially classified as a Historic Monument between 1890 and 1995, especially for its architectural elements (serre, cloister, facades) and its landscaping.

The Massey Garden illustrates the heritage of Placide Massey, who applied his knowledge to Versailles and the Jardin des Plantes de Paris. His 1853 will specifies his desire to bequeath the garden, the nurseries and its Tarbese properties to the city, provided that the income is used for their maintenance. The park, now labeled "Remarkable Garden", also preserves traces of its horticultural past, such as the chamaerops palm path planted around 1910 or the former wooden buvette (1953). Despite the damage caused by a storm in 2020 (the collapse of a chestnut tree on the cloister), it remains an emblematic place of Tarbes, combining natural, artistic and historical heritage.

The metal greenhouse, classified in 1995, is a remarkable example of Napoleon III architecture, with its glass dome and iron structure, while the cloister, classified in 1890, recalls the medieval past of the region. The statues, such as Jules Laforgue or Théophile Gautier, as well as the peacocks at large, add a cultural and living dimension to the site. The music kiosk (1904) and the buvette chalet complete this set, reflecting the social uses of the garden since its creation: a place for walks, botanical education and public gathering.

External links