12:15 Jul 4 

So would you all tend rather toward the lopsided theory or desertfox's idea of "compensates for the width"?

12:13 Jul 4 

It is described as if the 3 gates lead to different parts of the park, which would have upset the geometrical symmetry of the formal gardens. This presumably forms a 'clean break' between the two.

This aerial image shows it quite clearly:

http://www.viamichelin.fr/viamichelin/fra/search/Cartes/-1.1...


(that link takes you to the map, you then need to click on 'satellite' to see the actual image)


Definitely lop-sided!

12:08 Jul 4 

the entrance was naturally a bit lopsided and the addition of this detail offset or corrected this phenomenon to some extent

11:56 Jul 4 

...as if this semi-circular 'square' is being used as a device to match the width of the formal gardens to the breadth of the park lying beyond — instead of one single gateway (which would have been disproportionately wide with respect to its feasible height), the semi-circular walls make a feature out of this necessity, with not one but three imposing gates leading through to different areas of the park.