Her keel was laid down at Rochefort in 1807 as "Marengo". During her construction, she was renamed "Ville de Vienne", "Comte d'Artois" during the Bourbon Restoration, "Ville de Vienne" again briefly during the Hundred Days and back to "Comte d'Artois" thereafter. On 9 October 1830, following the July Revolution, she took her name of "Ville de Paris". She was launched on 5 October 1850.