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Paris, city of lights

© Marc A. Cormier

Atget, Marville, Doisneau, Cartier-Bresson made Paris their favorite subject. Photographers from around the world come to Paris and find new ideas and fresh perspectives.

During a much longer time in history, painters have made Paris their home and their muse. Raoul Dufy, Claude Monet, Jean-Baptiste Raguenet, Paul Signac are among the most famous painters who fell in love with Paris. Writers like Victor Hugo, Gustave Flaubert and James Joyce have all made Paris their home for short and long stays.

Beyond the realm of the arts, a lot of history and politics has roots in the city of lights. Revolutions that have been felt around the world have been born here. The financing of the American War of independance came from within the walls of Paris and Versailles. The idea of right and left wing politics was born here as well.

Founded as Lutèce (Lutetia) by the Parisii, it was taken by Ceasar's general in 52 BC. Very soon after, the Romans imposed their architecture and urban planning upon this small city. A thousand years later, Medieval Paris had spread well beyond the banks of the Seine River. In 1380, the population had risen to 100 000 and covered about 1/10th of today's city limits. The central position of Paris within the Paris Basin (a vast complex of rivers like the Oise, the Marne, the Yonne) made the city very accessible. The city also became the intellectual, political and economic capital of Medieval France. Gothic architecture is still very present within Paris : the Tour Saint-Jacques, Notre Dame cathedral, the Saint-Chapelle, Saint-Germain-des-Prés are all beautiful examples of this epoch. Very few houses or neighborhoods from this era are still around except for the Marais quarter.

Being the city of Kings, Paris has been influenced by the grandiose architecture of many dynasties. The Louvre, La Place des Vosges, the Place Dauphine, the Invalides were all designed under specific regal orders, each monarch trying to leave his mark upon the city, a tradition that modern presidents haven't completely abandoned.

Under Napoleon IIIrd Empire, centralized government, powerful laws and a strong will on behalf of the Emperor gave the Baron Georges-Eugène de Haussmann, prefect of Paris the tools necessary to redesign the entire core of the city. Great avenues and boulevards ploughed through old neighborhoods and opened up the city. Most of today's Paris is Haussmann's work.

The end of the XIXth century saw the appearance of a unique construction : the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel tower The Eiffel tower, built for the 1889 Exposition, was the brainchild of Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, two engineers who worked for Gustave Eiffel. By 1884, Eiffel patented the idea and signed a contract with Nouguier and Koechlin which gave him exclusive rights.