Paris
This page is about Paris in France. For other uses see Paris (disambiguation)
Paris is the capital and largest city of France. The city is built on an arc of the River Seine, and is thus divided into two parts: the Right Bank to the north and the smaller Left Bank in the south.
The city proper has about 2 million residents. The Greater Paris metropolitan area has about 14 million residents.
History
The historical nucleus of Paris is the Ile de la Cité, a small boat-shaped island largely occupied by the huge Palais de Justice and the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. It is connected with the smaller Ile Saint-Louis, occupied by elegant houses built in the 17th and 18th centuries. A major characteristic of Paris is its tree-lined quays along the Seine River, in particular, along the Left Bank with its open-air bookstalls, the historic bridges that span the river, and the vast tree-lined boulevards like the Champs-Élysées.
Paris was occupied by a Gallic tribe until the Romans arrived in 52 BC. The invaders referred to the previous occupants the Parisii, but called their new city Lutetia, meaning "marshy place". About fifty years later the city had spread to the left bank of the Seine, now known as the Latin Quarter, and had been renamed "Paris".
Roman rule was over by 468, when Clovis the Frank made the city the capital of the Merovingian Dynasty. Viking invasions during the 800s forced the Parisians to build a fortress on the Ile de la Cité. The first French king, Odo, was chosen in this period.
During the 11th century the city spread to the Right Bank. The 12th and 13th centuries, which included the reign of Philip II Augustus (1180-1223), are especially notable for the growth of the city. Main thoroughfares were paved, the first Louvre was built as a fortress and several churches, including the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, were constructed or begun. Several schools on the Left Bank were organized into the Sorbonne where Albertus Magnus and St. Thomas Aquinas can be counted among its scholars. In the Middle Ages Paris prospered as a trading and intellectual centre, interupted temporarily by the Black Death struck in the 14th century. Under the reign of King Louis XIV, the Sun King, from 1643 to 1715, the royal palace shifted from Paris to nearby Versailles.
The French Revolution began with the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789.
In 1870 the Franco-Prussian War ended in a siege of Paris and the Paris Commune, which surrendered in 1871 after a hard winter. The Eiffel Tower, the best-known landmark in Paris, was built in 1889 in a period of prosperity known as La Belle Époque.
Administration
The city of Paris is itself a département (Paris, 75), and subdivided into twenty numerically organised districts, the arrondissements. These districts are numbered in a spiral pattern with the Ier arrondissement at the center of the city.
Prior to around 1960, 75 was "Seine", which contained the city and the surrounding suburbs. The change in boundaries resulted in the creation of 3 new departments forming a ring around Paris, often called la petite couronne: Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-St-Denis and Val-de-Marne.
Transport
Paris is served by two principal airports: Orly Airport (East) and the international airport Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle (North).
Paris is densely covered by an underground railway system, the Métro. It is surrounded by a large orbital motorway, the Peripherique.
Places
Notable places/things in Paris and surrounding area:
- The Eiffel Tower
- Les Invalides - tomb of the soldiers, including Napoleon
- The Louvre - a huge museum housing many works of art, including the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo statue.
- The Musee d'Orsay - an art museum housed in a converted 19th century railway station, mainly Impressionists.
- Centre Georges Pompidou - houses the museum of modern art.
- Montparnasse - historic area on the Left Bank, famous for the studios and cafés of the world's greatest artists who converged on Paris.
- The Conciergerie -- ancient castle/prison.
- Montmartre -- historic area on the Butte, home to Basilica of Sacré Coeur and also famous for the studios and cafés of the world's greatest artists.
- Arc de Triomphe - war monument at the center of The Place de l'Etoile.
- Palais Garnier -- home of the Paris Opera.
- Champs-Élysées - the most famous street in the world.
- Cathedral of Notre Dame on the Ile de la Cité
- Père Lachaise Cemetery - one of the most popular tourist sites in Paris, it contains the graves of many famous French men and women and those from other countries who came to live in France.
- Saint Denis Basilica - ancient Gothic Cathedral and burial site for many French Monarchs located north of the city.
- The Samaritaine Building - department store from the start of the 20th century
- The Sorbonne -- famous university
- The Statue of Liberty - A smaller version of the Statue of Liberty in the harbour of New York City which France gave to the United States in 1886.
- Les Halles - Market
- Le Lido - Cabaret on the Champs-Élysées famous for its exotic shows and where, as an American GI on leave with some army friends, Elvis Presley gave an impromptu concert.
- Bal du Moulin Rouge, Le Crazy Horse Saloon, Les Folies Bergère - Famous Night Clubs
- The Pantheon - tomb for France's greatest heroes.
- Sainte-Chapelle - 13th-century Gothic palace chapel.
In the greater Paris region:
- Disneyland Paris - amusement park to the east of the city
- La Défense - in the suburb of Nanterre but overlooking Paris, it is the sight of the Grande Arch at a major office, theater and shopping complex.
- Palace of Versailles - the former royal palace, in the town of Versailles to the southeast of Paris. The No.1 tourist attraction in France.
Links
- Official Paris website: http://www.paris.fr/
- More than 700 photos of Paris and other areas of France: