Paris history

Cities with so many intact historical sites are rare. Monuments, museums, squares and gardens, in all their beauty, remind us of the extent to which Paris is and always has been in demand. It has been a theater in which major events have been staged, an intellectual, political and economic reference point since its foundation, and the residence of kings for several centuries. A city of the people and the middle classes, rich and poor, proud and sometimes treacherous, cosmopolitan yet insular. This cultural and sociological mix gives Paris an irresistible charm.

Civitas parisiorum
France's political, economic and cultural capital had modest and strictly rural beginnings; it started as no more than a little Celtic fishing borough, established in 3rd century BC in the middle of the Seine on the Ile de la Cité. The fortified and prosperous "Lutéce" appealed to Caesar and his Roman army's greed and they appropriated it in 52 BC as one of the first Gallo-Roman cities. The first mention of the name Paris appeared in 207 AD, when the civitas parisiorum stretched from the left bank of the Seine to the thermal springs of Cluny. Paris quickly attracted the favor of two saints who were to contribute to its construction. Saint Denis was the first Christian bishop to be beheaded by the Romans in 280 AD; his remains now lie in the Saint Denis Basilica. Saint Geneviève became the patron saint of Parisians after miraculously repelling the invasion of the Huns in 451. Monasteries and abbeys flourished - including the powerful abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Près - under the aegis of Clovis, King of the Franks from 486. While Charlemagne preferred Aix-la-Chapelle and suffered a long siege there at the hands of the Vikings in 885, Paris continued to repel the invasions of the barbarians with varied success until 987, when it regained its pride with the accession of France de Hugues Capet to the throne.

The biggest medieval city in western Christendom
As capital of the tiny French kingdom, the city grew considerably between the 11th and 13th centuries. The extension and embellishment of the city owed much to Philippe II Auguste, son of Louis VI, who paved the streets and built the new market in Les Halles, the circular ramparts and the Louvre fortress (1204). These extravagant centuries saw the completion of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame (undertaken in 1163), the Sainte Chapelle under Saint-Louis (in 1246) and the Palais Royal under Philippe-le-Bel (1285-1314).

The medieval town was divided, with the commercial, political and religious areas on the right bank and the bastion of dissident intellectuals on the left. The most famous of these was Robert de Sorbonne, whose college was the precursor of the famous university of the Sorbonne.

With a population of 80,000, Paris had become the biggest city in western Christendom by the 13th century.

But some black years were to follow with the famine of 1315, the plague and the Hundred-Years War, when Paris was besieged by the English until 1436. Fortunately prosperity was to return in the 15th century with François 1st to whom we owe the Hôtel de Ville, the college of France, the Hôtel des Tuileries and the Pont Neuf. He also transformed the old Louvre fortress into a Renaissance palace.

Architectural splendor and impoverished citizens

Paris sank into chaos once again with the religious wars and the terrible St-Barthélémy massacre of the Protestants during the nights of August 23rd and 24th, 1572. The fiercely Protestant regent, Henri III, had to flee the city and was succeeded by Henri IV in 1594 after he gave up the throne. A convert to Catholicism, he courted the hearts of Parisians by building the Place des Vosges, the Place Dauphine, and the Quais de l'Arsenal and Orfèvres.

Even more beautiful extensions to the city came under Louis XIII with the building of the Marais district (which retains its original character), and the St-Honoré and St-Germain suburbs. This was followed immediately by the construction of the Luxembourg Palace by Marie of Médicis, the Val de Grâce by Queen Anne of Austria, and the Palace of the Cardinal (now the Palais-Royal) by Richelieu. The establishment of the Royal Printing House, in 1620, the Botanical Gardens and the French Academy consolidated the intellectual character of the capital.

Louis XIV, known as the Sun King, installed his sumptuous court at Versailles, leaving Paris to deal with the Fronde in 1648-1652. This group protested against an absolute monarchy, but by isolating the king and his minions, only succeeded in strengthening it. Colbert, in charge of buildings, had superb monuments built by Mansart and Perrauls in honour of his sovereign: the colonnade in the Louvre, the Invalides, l’Observatoire, the gates of St-Denis and St- Martin, the Salpetrière hospital, and the Tuileries Gardens. The opulent architecture offered a stark contrast to the over-populated and poverty-stricken Paris of the ordinary people.

Philosophical and political revolution

The proliferation of cafés and literary salons, including the famous Procope, fostered new egalitarian and libertarian ideas that preceded the French Revolution, and contributed to the cultural reputation of Paris. At this time were constructed the Ecole Militaire, the Panthéon, the Place de la Concorde and the gardens of the Palais Royal, where the initial 1789 uprising was plotted; it was here that the famous Rights of Man were originally formulated and numerous remaining royalists were executed. With the regent beheaded, Napoleon put Paris in the control of two "prefects" charged with establishing a government. He set about creating the capital of Europe, establishing the Arc de Triomphe, the Stock Exchange, the Place Vendôme, the Colonne Vendôme and the St-Martin Canal.

The Eiffel Tower and Sacré-Coeur

The poverty of the people fueled the anti-royalist revolutions of 1830 and 1848. Napoleon III's Second Empire symbolised the start of a new era: above all a period of industrialisation, efficiency and public health. Official architect, Georges Haussman, changed the face of the city, transforming its medieval character into the one we know today. Dirty lanes gave way to broad, tree-lined avenues and majestic buildings that were accessible by new means of transport. Parks and gardens were established, such as the Bois de Boulogne and the Bois de Vincennes. Success came with the Universal exhibition of 1889, whose specially built iron structure was designed as a temporary monument and is now the archetypal symbol of the City of Light; without the Eiffel Tower, Paris just wouldn't be Paris. The Sacré-Coeur Basilica was completed in 1910, as was the Palais de Chaillot.

Spared by the Great War, intellectual and artistic Paris attracted numerous important painters and writers, especially in the Montmartre district. The Second World War was a different story however, when the German army occupied the capital in June 1940; the city was eventually liberated by General Leclerc and General de Gaulle. The latter declared the Fifth Republic, which was to be challenged by a great social, economic and cultural upheaval in May 1968. This dissident movement arose in student circles and was led by Daniel Cohn-Bendit. The occupation of the Sorbonne and Nanterre universities degenerated into riots and barricades in the Latin Quarter. It was an unprecedented crisis whose shock tactics paralyzed the country with a general strike.

The presidents regent of the Fifth Republic