A vast formal park was part of a plan thought up by Napoléon III. The zone where the park was located was used to bury six million souls when the Montmartre Cemetery was closed for sanity issues. Due to the major constraints presented by the land, in particular the proximity of the railway lines (nowadays used by the RER), the interruption during the war, and the remains of the cemetery the work was not completed until 1878,although they begun to work in 1867. It is known that the day of the opening the lake was completely empty due to some mistake and that is the reason why the engineer killed himself.
