III.

Places of Interest

A.

Urban Landscape

Roughly circular in shape, Paris is divided by the Seine, which enters in the south-east and loops to the north before leaving the city in the south-west. The river contains two islands, the Île de la Cité and the smaller Île St Louis, and its Paris course was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991. The original site of Paris was on the Île de la Cité and the adjacent left (south) bank of the river. The Romans established a regional capital here in the 1st century ad. With few topographic constraints on its growth, Paris expanded over the years in a generally circular form and was enclosed by a successive series of defensive walls. Once obsolete, the walls were demolished, and their sites were transformed into wide streets and handsome boulevards, creating vital access routes within the city. Until recent years, building heights within Paris were limited to 20 m (66 ft), or about six stories; thus, the city, although densely inhabited, has a low skyline apart from outlying new developments.

A temperate climate exerts an important influence on the life of the city, making it possible for pavement cafés, open-air markets, and other colourful attributes of the urban scene to be enjoyed throughout the year.

Among districts of the city that have maintained an individual character are the Latin Quarter, or Left Bank, near the Seine, noted for educational and cultural pursuits; the expensive residential and commercial districts of the Right Bank near the Champs-Élysées, such as Passy and Auteuil; and the poorer working-class neighbourhoods in the north-east of the city, including Belleville and La Chapelle.

Paris has grown steadily, with interruptions caused by war and disease, since it was chosen as the national capital in the late 10th century. The rate of migration to the city increased markedly during the 19th century as the impact of the Industrial Revolution made itself felt. Migration during this period was especially stimulated by the new railways, which provided easy access to the capital. Paris has long been a refuge for those fleeing persecution and unrest in various parts of Europe. After World War II, however, and well into the 1970s, the city's population became even more cosmopolitan with the arrival on a massive scale of immigrant workers from Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Yugoslavia and of former colonial subjects from North Africa, Senegal, Vietnam, and elsewhere. This more recent influx has created a variety of economic and social tensions in Paris.

B.

Landmarks

The central sections of Paris, like those of many European cities, were built up long before any particular need was felt for open or recreational space. This circumstance, together with the height restrictions on buildings (which often made land too expensive for low-revenue public use), has resulted in an unusually low ratio of “green space” per inhabitant. The largest areas of open space today are those that were protected from development by their status as royal preserves. Outstanding among these is the Bois de Boulogne, a tract of heavily used woods, trails, lakes, and sports grounds, located on the western edge of Paris. This park is mirrored just beyond the eastern city limits by the Bois de Vincennes, which contains a zoo, a floral garden, and museums. Within the city, important parks include the Luxembourg Gardens and the Parc Monceau, both originally royal preserves, and the parks of the Buttes Chaumont and Montsouris, which were laid out in the mid-19th century on the sites of old quarries. The botanical garden, the Tuileries, and Champ de Mars are attractive green areas that are more formally laid out than the other parks.

Paris's monumental architecture, dating from all periods of its long history, reflects the city's political and cultural status. Among the most important older buildings are the cathedral of Notre Dame on the Île de la Cité, which was begun in 1163; the nearby Sainte-Chapelle, a magnificent 13th-century Gothic structure originally built to house the Holy Crown of Thorns; the Louvre, once a royal palace; the Invalides, built as a soldiers' home by Louis XIV and now containing Napoleon's tomb; and the Place de la Concorde, laid out in the time of Louis XV. During the mid-19th century Paris was redesigned under the direction of Baron Georges Haussmann, and several grandiose projects were undertaken to emphasize the city's significance. The Arc de Triomphe, the Opéra, the Place d'Étoile (now Place Charles de Gaulle), and many of the broad avenues with their imposing perspectives date from this period. Among the city's better known thoroughfares are the Rue de Rivoli, Rue de la Paix, Rue St-Honoré, Avenue de l'Opéra, Boulevard des Italiens, Boulevard du Montparnasse, and the Champs-Élysées.

Towards the end of the century, the Eiffel Tower was built for the Paris World's Fair of 1889; it is now the city's most famous landmark. The basilica of Sacré Coeur, on the summit of Montmartre, was completed in 1914. Other important buildings include the Palais de Chaillot, Palais Royal, Palais de l'Élysée (now the official residence of the President of France), Palais Bourbon (the meeting place of the Chamber of Deputies), the Palais de Justice, and the Panthéon. All of the classic monuments of Paris, and indeed the entire city, have a surprisingly clean and fresh look, thanks to the rediscovery and enforcement, in the 1960s, of an old ordinance requiring all buildings to be cleaned periodically.

Among the more impressive recent additions to the city's skyline are the high-rise office buildings clustered at La Défense, just west of the city at Nanterre, and the controversial high-rise residential and commercial complexes at the Montparnasse railway station and along the Seine downstream from the Eiffel Tower. When the old central markets (Les Halles) were moved out of the congested inner city, the site was turned into a multilevel underground shopping mall.

C.

Educational and Cultural Institutions

With the exception of regional folk traditions, Paris has defined French culture to the world. Moreover, the international importance of the French language, and of French thought and action, has lent even greater significance to the expanded role of the capital. In both educational and cultural terms, the contrast between Paris and the provinces has been extremely sharp. Only very recently and very slowly has the dominance of Paris over the intellectual life of the nation been weakened. The most prestigious educational institutions of France are still concentrated in the city. Most prominent is the Sorbonne, which was founded about 1257 and evolved into the University of Paris. Beginning in 1968, in a major reform, the university was decentralized into 13 separate components. Other institutions of higher education include the Collège de France (1530), École Polytechnique (1794), Catholic Institute of Paris (1875), École du Louvre (1882), as well as medical, law, and technological schools.

The city is the centralized control point of most national radio and television broadcasting, place of publication of the most prestigious newspapers (Le Monde, Le Figaro, Libération) and glossy magazines, and an international book publishing centre. The main public library, the Bibliothèque Nationale, which has more than 9 million volumes, originated in a small collection of books donated by Louis XI. The famous French Academy (founded 1635) meets in Paris, which is also the home of most of the nation's major musical and theatrical companies. Among the principal theatres are the Opéra, the Comédie Française, the Opéra Comique, and the Odeón. With more than 100 museums, Paris can boast one of the greatest concentrations of art treasures in the world. The Louvre, opened as a museum in 1793 and now with 225 galleries and some 400,000 catalogue entries, is one of the largest museums in the world. The Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges-Pompidou has, since opening in 1977, become a major tourist attraction. In 1985 the Picasso Museum opened in the restored 17th-century Hôtel Salé. It houses the world's largest collections of Picasso's work, plus his private art collection. Other major museums are the Museum of Paris (Musée Carnavalet), and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.