Come relax in this splendid garden
Since the Middle Ages, gardens have wavered between a more wild and natural setting and a more domesticated and worked land. St-Omer’s public park is a landscape garden typical of the 19th century that balances between the two through its use of the natural terrain and designed plots.
Conceived as an authentic landscape park, St-Omer’s garden is where locals walk and spend their free time.
In a low part of the park, a traditional French garden was designed as bowling green with orderly and shaped shrubs and a lovely fountain at the centre.
From this part of the park, there are stairs up the contrescarp that guide you towards the esplanade by the 1896 music pavilion, which features a cast iron roof and a stone base.
Further on, you can admire the flowerbeds comprised of mosaics of colorful blossoms and the busts of well known locals such as Louis Martel (1813-1892) and Charles Jonnart (1857-1927), local and federal politcians.
There is also an English garden featuring a waterfall and a Turkish style pond crossed by a rustic bridge made of reinforced concrete. If you take this bridge, you come to the small animal park with bird houses as you enter deeper into the arboretum of the park.
Etienne Peulabeuf d’Arras specialised in gardening and completed this beautiful park in 1898.