The Tuileries Garden takes its name from the tile kilns that once occupied this site in the 1100s. What began as clay pits and vineyards became, under Catherine de Medici in 1564, the grounds of a royal palace.

The garden reached its definitive form a century later when André Le Notre, son and grandson of Crown gardeners, redesigned it for Louis XIV. Le Notre created a masterwork of French garden design: 63 acres of geometrical precision, shaded alleys and reflecting pools that have changed remarkably little in 350 years.

The phantom of the Tuileries Palace, burned during the Paris Commune of 1871, still watches over the garden. In 1783, up to 200,000 people gathered here to watch two physicists ascend in a hydrogen balloon. Sculptures brought from Louis XIV's château at Marly now line the central axis.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours trace this royal promenade from Bernini's controversial equestrian statue to the winged horses at Place de la Concorde.