Places in Paris and Paris Monuments.
The basilica is built on a vast scale to take full advantage of its commanding site. Précédent Suivant The architect Abadie was inspired by the Romano-Byzantine style. The domes, elongated into ovoid forms, the 80-metre bell-tower from which the 19-tons Savoyarde bell can be heard, the whiteness of this monument which overlooks the whole of Paris, henceforth makes it one of the major landmarks of the Paris scenery. The building's extraordinary whiteness is a result of the material used in its construction: Chateau-Landon stone bleaches with age.The impressive façade with its triple-arched portico is surmounted by two bronze equestrian statues of St. Joan of Arc and St. Louis by H. Lefebvre, and the climax of the overall design is the…
Between the Champs Elysées and the Tuileries Gardens, there lies the Place de la Concorde. With traffic roaring and careening about seemingly in all directions, it is easy to feel lost on its 84,000 square meters. HistoryIt was designed by Gabriel begun in 1748 and completed in 1763. It was first called Place Louis XV, and planned as a worthy setting for the royal statue. Place de la Concorde is often associated with the bloody events that took place on its pavement. In 1770, for example, 133 spectators were trampled to death at a huge fireworks display on the occasion of Marie-Antoinette's wedding to the Dauphin.A few decades later, the revolutionaries, who were intent on eliminating all royalist monuments from…
The Paris-based headquarters of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization located near the Invalides. Specialized Agency of the United Nations, UNESCO aims at a world peace based on dignity and solidarity. Its founding Member States created the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1946 for the purpose of advancing, through the educational and scientific, cultural and communication relations of the peoples of the world, the objective of international peace and of the common welfare of mankind.Inaugurated in 1958, the international headquarters of UNESCO is the most international building in Paris, both in terms of the membership of the Organization it houses (currently standing at 186 States) and in terms of its construction, for it is the…
Facing the Luxor obelisk this neo-classic palace (18th) houses one of the two chambers of the french parliament. Previous image Next image The frontage of the French Assembly, built by Poyet in 1804 and completed in 1807, matches the Madeleine church. The frontage of the courtyard opening on the other side is typically 19th century, with its vast colonnade framing high windows.Interior : the Royal Drawing Room and the Library are decorated in the Romantic style, and hung with paintings by Delacroix.The aristocratic quarter built at the end of the "Ancien Regime" runs into Boulevard Saint Germain.HistoryThe National Assembly or Congress known as the Bourbon Palace, was built by 4 different architects. Ordered by the Duchess of Bourbon daughter of…
The National Library is an institution going back to 1368, housing the largest collection of geographical maps in the world along with 12 millions printed works and 250 000 manuscripts. The Bibliothèque Nationale de France was first a royal and later an imperial library before becoming a national institution. Its mission is to collect and conserve all works published, whatever the media, with the purpose of making them available to researchers and professionals. Under french law, publishers must deposit several copies of the works they publish in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.HistoryFollowing the decree issued by Francois 1er in 1537, this obligation was gradually extended from books alone to cover all works printed in France (periodicals, engravings, posters, musical scores,…
The "intellectual" and new fashion district ! Précédent Suivant How to get thereThe best way to the St-Germain-des-prés district and neighbourhood is to start by taking the Pont des Arts which is located at the Louvre. You will pass by the Ile de la Cité, then the Tour St.-Jacques and then the Hotel de Ville. Finally, you will be on the Left Bank. Directly in front of you is the Institut de France (the building with the beautiful Dome). This is the seat of the Académie Française, where a body of writers and scholars meet to preserve the purity of the French language.However, it is the northern half of the 6th arrondissement (at the place St. Germain des Prés), where…
The 21 st century skyscrapers business district erected outside the western city-limits of Paris was recently enriched by the spectacular Grande Arche. The Financial DistrictThis business district is like a futuristic universe where form and content meet in beauty : active and lively during the day, deathly silent at night. Not just office buildings, but a variety of things to see. Besides the different international trade fairs, exhibitions, concerts or theatrical performances that take place in the CNIT or on the roof of the Arche, you can find a wide variety of restaurants, stores, and outdoor shows. And, for several years, on June 21st, the official Holiday of Music "Fête de la Musique", La Défense hosts a great music festival…
A famous early 17th century square with some of the most beautiful parisian apartments in the middle of a middle-age district. HistoryHenry IV developped this marshy land on the right bank opposite the Ile Saint Louis, into what is known today as the Place des Vosges. Parcelled out under Louis Xlll, he had a fine square built here. Undertaken Henry IV ordered this square designed after Catherine de Médicis vision combining cut stones. In 1612, it was officially inaugurated for the wedding of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. Covered by a steep roof pierced by dormer windows, the center of the southern façade stood the King's House facing and the Queen's on the northern side.A number of other popular…
This neo-classic stock exchange, modern "Temple of Money" was founded by Napoleon in 1808. Exhibits illustrating Bourse activity, past and present, are displayed in a suite of rooms on the first floor of the stock exchange building.The Bourse in the pastThe visit starts with a look at the past, through an exhibit on architect Alexandre Theodore Brongniart and the construction of the stock exchange building. It continues in the former office of the head of the Compagnie des Agents de Change, and moves on to a description of the paintings, viewed from the gallery overlooking the floor where derivatives are traded. The "Corbeille" is on display in a room designed to give visitors an idea of the atmosphere that prevailed…
With its 2 700 places with homogeneous acoustics, its unique equipments of scene, its integrated workshops of decorations, costumes and accessories, its rooms of work and repetitions, the Opera Bastille constitutes a large modern theatre. Précédent Suivant The OperaBuilt by the well-known architect Carlos Ott, the Bastille was inaugurated on July 14th, 1989. This modern building was designed both to integrate it into the town of the suburb beginning just beside it, and the old faubourg Saint-Antoine, known for its working-class and the bustling. The Bastille Opera was built with the mission to drag the people in and make them at home and make the lyric spectacle speak to them directly.The Bastille Opera is a product of the latest technology.A…
