It is one of the most prestigious streets in Paris, as well as one of the most expensive addresses in the world, home to many grand city palaces, including ones belonging to the Onassis and Rothschild families.

Its purpose was to provide an impressive grand approach for fashionable Parisians to promenade from the centre of the city to the park in their carriages, to see and be seen.

The avenue was built by Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand, the chief engineer of the Service of Promenades and Plantations of Paris, who also designed the Bois de Boulogne, Bois de Vincennes, Parc Monceau, Parc des Buttes Chaumont, in addition to other parks and squares built by Napoleon III.

The final design consisted of a central avenue 120 metres wide and 1,300 metres long, flanked by sidewalks for pedestrians, riding paths for horsemen, in addition to crisscrossing alleys, shaded by rows of chestnut trees and decorated along its full length by ornamental lawns and gardens with exotic flowers and plants.

It was, in fact, an extension of the Bois de Boulogne into the city, connecting directly with the avenues and paths of the park.