ParisLongchamp, the Bois de Boulogne racecourse since 1857

ParisLongchamp racecourse, in the south-west of the Bois de Boulogne, opened on Sunday 27 April 1857 before Napoleon III and the Empress Eugénie. The architect Antoine-Nicolas Bailly built it on the grounds of the former royal abbey of Longchamp, at the urging of the Duc de Morny. The first winner was called Éclaireur.

The Grand Prix de Paris was created in 1863 and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 1920. Manet painted Les Courses à Longchamp in 1867 and Degas found his racehorses here. The Grand Prix drew 126,000 spectators in 1926. Bombed in 1870 and 1943, the course held livestock in 1914.

Stone stands of 1904 replaced the wooden ones, and more were built from 1962 to 1964. Closed in 2015, the racecourse reopened in 2018 with a 160-metre stand by Dominique Perrault, a brasserie, a restaurant and a guinguette.

Across 57 hectares between the Seine and the woods, in the 16th arrondissement, ParisLongchamp hosts France Galop’s flat race meetings, the Arc every autumn and festivals such as Solidays. A statue of the horse Gladiateur by Isidore Bonheur stands at the entrance.