Parc Oriental de Maulévrier

Maulévrier, France, France

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The Parc Oriental de Maulévrier is a 29-hectare Japanese garden located in Maulévrier, Maine-et-Loire, in the Pays de la Loire region of western France, and is recognized as the largest Japanese garden in Europe.

Created between 1899 and 1913 on the grounds of Château Colbert by renowned Parisian architect and orientalist Alexandre Marcel (1860–1928), who also designed the Cambodia pavilion at the Exposition Universelle (1900), the garden was built for the château's industrialist owner, whom Marcel later married by marrying his daughter.

The garden features authentic Japanese landscaping elements including water features, a red arched bridge, a pagoda, azaleas, camellias, rhododendrons, and approximately 300 Japanese maple species from around 250 maple trees spread across 200 meters that create breathtaking autumn scenery resembling intricately dyed fabric.

After falling into desolation for 40 years following the owner's daughter's death in 1945, the municipality purchased the park in 1980, restoration work began in 1887 based on photographs and memories, and by 1987 three Japanese experts acknowledged it as a typical Edo Period stroll garden; in 2004 it was named a "Jardin Remarquable" (Remarkable Garden) by the French Ministry of Culture.