The public park is fifteen hectares in area, and it is styled as an English garden, a genre popular since the early 19th century. The park was ordained by Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann as part of a plan to add green areas to Paris. The water reservoir in the northeast portion of the park covers an historic entrance to the Paris catacombs. Jean-Claude Alphand (1817-1901), with the assistance of Edouard André (1827-1911), was in charge of laying out and improving the parks; the planting was left to Jean-Pierre Barillet-Deschamps (1824-1873).