In 1662, an archival document referred to the area called Grange Lambert. The name “Tête d’or” was found from a legend saying that a treasure with a Christ’s head could be buried in the park.

The area was a flood zone composed of “lônes” (dead backwaters) of the Rhône and “brotteaux” (swamps). It remained like this until the park’s creation.

History

In 1845, the architect Christophe Bonnet proposed, in the purpose of the beautification of the La Guillotière quarter, a project of urban park at the current location of the park: “To satisfy the pressing needs of a large population, I turned the lands and brush of the Parc de la Tête d’or into a planted wood like the Bois de Boulogne.”

This idea was also presented by the Senator-Mayor Claude-Marius Vaïsse who wanted to create a park to “give the nature to those who don’t have it”. In 1856, the land was bought from the Hospices Civils de Lyon. Work on the park began in 1856, under the leadership of Swiss landscape designers Eugene and Denis Bulher and lasted five years.

The park was finally opened in 1857, although at the time all the work was not yet completed. It was located in the northern district of Les Brotteaux, along the Rhône. A dam was built to make non-flooded vast lands transformed into a park.