Jardin François Mitterrand

The Préfecture is extended by a French-style park, surrounded by Napoleonic gates, boxwood topiary and wide lawns.

The Place de la Préfecture, now the Jardin François Mitterrand, is surrounded by stone houses with frames and balconies designed to showcase the Préfecture. Tall cedars and thuyas add grandeur to the garden. The bicentenary sculpture, designed by Jean-Pierre Viot, symbolises the emergence and development of the new town, with 200 enamelled lava slabs in the centre, coloured differently to reflect the names of the town: La Roche-sur-Yon, Napoléon, Bourbon-Vendée...