II.

Paris and Its Metropolitan Area

Roughly circular in shape, Paris proper has an area of 105 sq km (41 sq mi). It is bounded by a 35 km- (22 mi-) long ring road called the Boulevard Périphérique. Paris proper constitutes one of eight départements of the Île-de-France region. The Paris metropolitan area stretches over the three adjacent départements, which are known as the inner suburbs (la petite couronne), and extends into the fringes of the four larger, surrounding départements, known as the outer suburbs (la grande couronne).

The city is divided into 20 political units called arrondissements. The numbering of the arrondissements spirals outward like a snail shell, starting from the western part of the Île de la Cité, then moving clockwise all the way to the 20th arrondissement in eastern Paris. The Seine enters Paris in the southeast, loops north, and then curves to the southwest before leaving the city. Many of the city’s greatest monuments lie along the river, and the banks of the Seine were designated a World Heritage Site in 1992 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The Seine provides the simplest division of the city: The north side of the river is known as the Right Bank (Rive Droite) and the south side as the Left Bank (Rive Gauche). The Right Bank contains 14 arrondissements, while the Left Bank contains 6.

In addition to arrondissements, Paris is made up of neighborhoods, or quarters (quartiers), usually of historical, cultural, or monumental origin. These neighborhoods do not always have clearly defined boundaries.

A.

Islands

Île de la Cité, in the center of the Seine, is considered the birthplace of Paris. It was the site of the city’s earliest settlements and was home to the kings of France from the 5th century to the 14th century. The king’s palace, private chapel, parliament, and prison were located on the western side of the island. The medieval palace was largely replaced by the massive 19th-century Palais de Justice, the site of France’s main civil and criminal courts. The Palais de Justice was built around the 13th-century Gothic royal chapel of Sainte-Chapelle, constructed by King Louis IX to be a shrine for relics that were believed to be the crown of thorns of Jesus Christ and pieces of the holy cross. Also within the Palais is the Conciergerie, the prison that housed many central figures in the French Revolution (1789-1799) before they were executed. The Parisian police headquarters is located across the street from the Palais.

The eastern part of the Île de la Cité is the spiritual center of France, represented by the Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame (begun in 1163). The cathedral stands on the site of an ancient monument to the Roman god Jupiter. Other churches stood nearby before the 19th century, when the island was remodeled, the cathedral square enlarged, and the city’s oldest hospital, l’Hôtel Dieu, moved from its previous location along the river to the northern side of the square. Notre Dame is also the geographic center of Paris. A paving on the cathedral square marks point zéro, the spot from which all distances to Paris are measured. At the eastern tip of the island is a shrine dedicated to the thousands of Parisians deported to German concentration camps during World War II (1939-1945).

Four bridges connect the Île de la Cité with either river bank, and a footbridge connects it with the Île Saint-Louis to the east. Île Saint-Louis was formerly two islets, which were joined in the 17th century. French architect Louis Le Vau designed many of the buildings on the island, which became a wealthy residential neighborhood when space became scarce in the fast-developing aristocratic Marais neighborhood on the Right Bank. The island is a wealthy and expensive enclave with attractive baroque and neoclassical architecture and elegant boutiques and restaurants.

B.

Right Bank

The north side of the Seine is called the Right Bank because it lies on the right-hand side when one is facing downstream. The following description of the Right Bank follows an east-west itinerary along the Seine starting across from the Île de la Cité and Île Saint-Louis. It then loops back in a west-to-east direction along the major avenues that make up the Grands Boulevards and turns to points north and east.

B.1.

The Marais

North of Île Saint-Louis is the neighborhood of the Marais (“marsh”). In the 13th century, this area was the home of the Knights Templar (see Military Religious Orders), who drained the marshy land for agricultural use. The Marais is centered on the Place des Vosges (previously known as the Place Royale), the first public square constructed in Paris, in the early 17th century. This area was the aristocratic neighborhood of Paris before the French Revolution, mainly between the second half of the 14th century, when the king moved his residence here, and the 17th century. A number of 17th-century private townhouses (hôtels particuliers) stand in the Marais, many of which have been turned into museums or other cultural institutions. The Marais is home to one of Paris’s larger Jewish neighborhoods, centered on the Rue des Rosiers, just west of the Place des Vosges.

Located directly north of the eastern tip of the Île de la Cité, Place de l’Hôtel de Ville is the site of the Parisian city hall. Home to city authorities since the 13th century, the square was called Place de Grève until the end of the 19th century. It was the main place of public executions and Paris’s most famous criminals were put to death here.

West of the Hôtel de Ville is Place du Châtelet, named after the medieval prison and fortress that stood by the Seine until the early 19th century. In an effort to upgrade this hitherto run-down neighborhood, the ingenious city planner Baron Haussmann built two theaters here in the mid-19th century. These are now known as the Théâtre Musical de Paris and the Théâtre de la Ville.

Just north of the Hôtel de Ville is the Pompidou Center, also known as Beaubourg, an arts complex devoted to modern and contemporary art and design. The structure, in steel and glass and featuring brightly colored, exposed pipes and ducts, is the work of Italian architect Renzo Piano and British architect Richard Rogers. Its controversial pop-art design contrasts sharply with the overall gray hue of the city, and was criticized by many following the building’s inauguration in 1977. Nevertheless, the complex, and its vibrant public square, frequented by street performers, soon became among the most popular landmarks in the city.

West of the Pompidou Center is Les Halles, the site of the central market of Paris from the 12th century until 1969. The market was subsequently replaced by the Forum Les Halles, a multilevel underground complex featuring a shopping mall, museums, the Paris film library (vidéothèque), and a sports center. The street level of Les Halles features a garden, the Jardin des Halles, surrounded by pedestrian-only thoroughfares. The Châtelet-les Halles underground train station, connected to the Forum Les Halles, is a major transportation hub.

B.2.

Louvre and Place de la Concorde

The Louvre, one of the largest and most famous museums in the world, is located southwest of Les Halles, on the Seine. Construction of the current building began in 1546, on the site of a much smaller 13th-century fortress and palace. The kings of France lived here intermittently from 1363 to 1682. The structure became a public museum in 1793. The Palace of the Tuileries, begun in 1564, stood to the west of what is now the Louvre until 1871, when it was burned by supporters of the Commune of Paris. The Jardins des Tuileries, the original formal garden of the palace, is now a public park.

The Place de la Concorde, located on the west side of the Jardins des Tuileries, is the most spacious square in Paris. It was laid out in the mid-18th century by French architect Jacques Ange Gabriel as a monument to King Louis XV. Originally called Place Louis XV, it was renamed Place de la Révolution during the French Revolution, when a guillotine was set up in the square for many of the subsequent public executions. More than 1,000 people were executed here in the 1790s, notably King Louis XVI, Queen Marie-Antoinette, and revolutionary leaders Georges Jacques Danton and Maximilien de Robespierre. The square received its current name after the revolution. Muhammad Ali, the viceroy of Egypt, gave the Luxor Obelisk that stands in the center of the square to Charles X in 1829. It was erected in 1836. The obelisk, which originally stood in the ancient city of Thebes, dates from the 13th century bc, making it the oldest monument in Paris.

B.3.

Champs-Élysées and Trocadéro

The Champs-Élysées (meaning “Elysian Fields”) is the most spectacular thoroughfare of Paris, running west from the Place de la Concorde to the Place Charles de Gaulle-Étoile (formerly called the Place de l’Étoile). All major civic celebrations take place along this broad avenue, including the Bastille Day military parade on July 14.

Moving west from the Place de la Concorde, elegant gardens line the first few blocks of the Champs-Élysées. The Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, both built for the 1900 Universal Exposition (World’s Fair), are located on the south side of the avenue. Both palaces now house art exhibitions. North of the gardens lies the one-time aristocratic Faubourg Saint-Honoré neighborhood. Its most famous building is the Élysée Palace, the residence of the president of France.

At the center of Place Charles de Gaulle-Étoile, at the western end of the Champs-Élysées, stands the 50-m- (164-ft-) tall Arc de Triomphe. Commissioned by French emperor Napoleon I in 1806 to commemorate his military victories, the monument was completed in 1835. Beneath the arch is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in honor of French soldiers killed in World War I (1914-1918). Twelve avenues radiate from the Place Charles de Gaulle-Étoile, giving it the appearance of a giant star (hence its original name, Place de l’Étoile). The layout is the masterpiece of 19th-century urban planner Baron Haussmann.

Southwest of the Arc de Triomphe is the Trocadéro, consisting of the semicircular Palais de Chaillot, built for the 1937 World’s Fair, and its gardens, called the Jardins du Trocadéro. The Palais de Chaillot now houses the Musée de l’Homme (Museum of Man), the Musée de la Marine (Maritime Museum), the Théâtre National (National Theater), the Musée du Cinéma (Museum of Cinema), and the Cinemathèque Française, the French national film archives. Also located in the vicinity are the Palais Galliera, which houses a museum of fashion; the Musée Guimet, which features an Asian art collection; and the Musée d’Art Moderne (Museum of Modern Art).

B.4.

Grands Boulevards

The Grands Boulevards run in a huge semicircle from the Place de la Concorde northeast and then southeast to eastern Paris. These once fashionable thoroughfares and promenades were laid out by Louis XIV in the 1670s to replace the old city walls.

North from the Place de la Concorde is the church of Sainte Marie Madeleine, commonly known as the Madeleine. Emperor Napoleon I had the church built in the early 19th century in the style of a Roman temple. Located to the northeast of the Madeleine is the Palais Garnier, better known as the Opéra, Paris’s main opera house until 1989. The opera house was designed by French architect Charles Garnier and completed in 1875. The area around the Madeleine and the Opéra is a major commercial area, featuring some of the city’s best-known department stores, as well as many banks and travel agents.

The Grands Boulevards run east from the Place de l’Opéra through the Place de la République to the Place de la Bastille, southeast of the Marais. The Bastille is a trendy neighborhood, with numerous art galleries, studios, and a busy nightlife. The French Revolution erupted in this area when a mob stormed the Bastille fortress, which stood west of the Place de la Bastille, on July 14, 1789. Across the square is the new Opéra de la Bastille, inaugurated on July 14, 1989, on the occasion of the bicentennial of the French Revolution.

B.5.

Montmartre and Points East

Located on the northern edge of Paris, Montmartre is the highest hill in the city. This picturesque neighborhood is popular with tourists. Countless artists lived in Montmartre in the early 20th century and the area prides itself as the birthplace of modern art. The Basilica of Sacré Coeur, at the top of the hill, was built between 1875 and 1919.

The neighborhood of La Villette, on the northeastern edge of the city, is centered on the Parc de la Villette, which was built on the site of the city’s main slaughterhouse and livestock market. The park is a major cultural and entertainment center, featuring a museum of science and industry as well as the Cité de Musique (City of Music), which houses the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique (National Higher Conservatory of Music), the Musée de Musique (Museum of Music), an Imax cinema, an exhibition hall, a pop and jazz music venue, and a theater.

In the southeast, the neighborhood of Bercy lies on the Seine. It is home to the French Ministry of Finance, a multipurpose sports facility called the Palais Omnisports, and the Parc de Bercy, built on the site of former wine warehouses.

C.

Left Bank

The south side of the Seine is called the Left Bank. The following description of the Left Bank takes an east-west tour along the Seine beginning across from the Île de la Cité and then loops around to the southeast.

C.1.

The Latin Quarter

The area south of the Île de la Cité is known as the Quartier Latin, or the Latin Quarter. The University of Paris, the oldest university in Europe, emerged in the neighborhood in the early 13th century. The area is so named because Latin was the official language of learning until 1789. Several colleges belonging to the university—the most famous being the Sorbonne—were located throughout the neighborhood for centuries. The University of Paris was restructured and decentralized in 1968 (see Universities of Paris), and most of its students no longer study in the Latin Quarter. However, the Sorbonne and the Law Faculty are still located there, as is the prestigious École Normale Supérieure, an independent institution of higher education founded in 1794. The oldest university building still standing in the Latin Quarter is the 17th-century chapel of the Sorbonne. Two of Paris’s prestigious secondary schools are also in the Latin Quarter: the Lycée Louis le Grand and the Lycée Henri IV, located, respectively, on the site of an old Jesuit college and the Abbey of Saint Geneviève. The Latin Quarter is a vibrant intellectual neighborhood, with numerous bookstores, shops, and movie theaters. Boulevard Saint-Michel is the main thoroughfare of the Latin Quarter.

The Panthéon, southeast of the Sorbonne, is the Latin Quarter’s largest monument. Once a church, the building is now the secular resting place of some of the nation’s heroes, including authors Victor Hugo, Voltaire, and Émile Zola. Originally built for the Queen Mother Marie de Médicis, the Palais du Luxembourg is now the seat of the French Senate. It sits west of the Sorbonne at the north end of the Jardin du Luxembourg, a magnificent park.

C.2.

West from the Latin Quarter to the Eiffel Tower

Saint-Germain-des-Prés, west of the Latin Quarter and across the river from the Louvre, is named after the neighborhood’s church. Constructed in the 11th century, the church is the only remnant of an ancient abbey. It has been renovated or altered several times. Its church tower is the oldest in the city and one of the oldest in France. In the 20th century, and in particular after World War II, the neighborhood became a mecca for French intellectual life, jazz music, and publishing houses, many of which still exist. Today, Saint-Germain-des-Prés is one of the most elegant and expensive neighborhoods in Paris, lined with boutiques and art galleries. At night it draws crowds to its restaurants, cafés, cinemas, and nightclubs.

The Faubourg Saint-Germain, further west, was an aristocratic neighborhood in the 18th century. It is now home to many foreign embassies and government ministries, among them the French prime minister’s residence, l’Hôtel Matignon. The Musée d’Orsay, a famous museum of 19th- and early-20th-century art, and the Palais Bourbon, the seat of the French National Assembly, are also located in the Faubourg Saint-Germain.

The 17th-century Hôtel des Invalides, built by Louis XIV as a hospice for war veterans, houses the Army Museum. Napoleon’s tomb is located in the Church of the Dome, built from 1676 to 1706 by Jules Hardouin-Mansart. The Invalides Esplanade extends to the Seine and bounds the Faubourg Saint-Germain to the west. Along the Seine to the west is the Musée du Quai Branly, which opened in 2006 and displays non-Western art.

The Eiffel Tower and the École Militaire (Military School) face each other on the northern and southern edge of the Champ de Mars gardens, west of the Invalides. The Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 Universal Exposition. The École Militaire was built in the 18th century under Louis XV as a military academy. The Champ de Mars served as the school’s training and parading grounds, and later as racetracks. Universal Expositions were held here in 1855, 1878, 1889, and 1900.

C.3.

Montparnasse and the Southeast

Montparnasse, to the south of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, is a commercial neighborhood centered on a major railway station and the high-rise Tour Montparnasse (Montparnasse Tower). In the first half of the 20th century, especially in the 1920s and 1930s, Montparnasse was the cultural and artistic center of Paris. Artists from all corners of the world congregated in Montparnasse, in particular in the cafés near Carrefour Vavin (later renamed Place Pablo Picasso).

The Bibliothèque Nationale de France-François Mitterrand, located southeast of the Latin Quarter, across the river from Bercy, is the main location of the French national library. It was inaugurated in 1996, and was the last in a series of public building projects undertaken during the 14-year presidency of François Mitterrand.

D.

Suburbs

La Défense lies west of central Paris, on the axis of the Champs-Élysées. It is a high-rise development of office buildings, apartments, shops, and restaurants, and features the monumental Grande Arche de la Défense, completed in 1989. To the southwest is Versailles, home to the 17th-century Palace of Versailles of Louis XIV. Saint-Denis, to the north, houses the 12th-century Abbey Church of Saint-Denis, where many of France’s kings and queens are entombed. East of Paris is Marne-la-Vallée, one of several villes nouvelles (“new towns”) outside of Paris, and home to the Disneyland Paris theme park. Other villes nouvelles include Cergy-Pontoise in the northwest, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in the southwest, Évry in the south, and Sénart in the southeast.