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Paris redirects here. For other uses, see Paris (disambiguation).

Paris is the capital and largest city of France, and the number one tourist destination in the world. 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

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.

In the Middle Ages Paris prospered as a trading and intellectual centre, until the Black Death struck in the 14th century.

The French Revolution began with the storming of the Bastille on July 14 1789.

In 1870 a war against Prussia ended in a siege of Paris, 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 I arrondissement at the center of the city.

The city is in the Ile de France region.

Prior to c.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 (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:

• The Eiffel Tower
• Les Invalides - tomb of the soldiers, including Napoleon
• The Louvre - a huge museum housing many works of art, including the famous Mona Lisa
• The Musee d'Orsay - an art museum housed in a converted 19th century railway station, mainly Impressionists.
• The 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.
• 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.
• The Palais Garnier. Home of the Paris Opera.
• Champs-Élysées - the most famous street in the world.
• The Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris on the Ile de la Cité
• Saint Denis Basilica - ancient Gothic Cathedral and burial site for many French Monarchs.
• The Samaritaine Building - department store from the start of the 20th century
• 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
• The Pantheon - tomb for France's greatest heroes.

In the greater Paris region:

• Versailles - a royal palace and gardens to the southeast of the city
• La Défense - sight of the Grand Arch at a major office, theater and shopping complex.
• Disneyland Paris - amusement park to the east of the city

Link

• Official Paris website: http://www.paris.fr/

• More than 700 photos of Paris and other areas of France:

http://www.planetware.com/photos/PHF.HTM