Champ de Mars

'Field of Mars') is a large public greenspace in Paris, France, located in the seventh arrondissement, between the Eiffel Tower to the northwest and the École Militaire to the southeast.

Originally, the Champ de Mars was part of a large flat open area called Grenelle, which was reserved for market gardening.

The choice to build an esplanade to the north of the school led to the erection of the noble facade which today encloses the Champ de Mars.

The planners leveled the ground, surrounded it with a large ditch and a long avenue of elms, and, as a final touch, the esplanade was enclosed by a fine grille-work fence.

The Isle of Swans, formerly a riverine islet at the location of the northeastern foot of the Eiffel Tower, was, for the sake of symmetry and pleasing perspectives, attached to the shore.

With a design by the painter Jacques-Louis David,[2] a massive "Altar of the Nation" was built atop an artificial mountain and surmounted by a tree of liberty.