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City |
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Paris
is known as The Light City. Paris
is more than 2,000 years old. Gauls
of the Parisii tribe settled there
between 250 and 200 BC and founded
a fishing village on an island in
the river that is the present-day
Ile de la Cité -- the center
around which Paris developed.
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Known as Lutetia (Lutece) in ancient times,
Paris was conquered by Julius Caesar in
52 BC, and existed as a regional center
under the Romans and in the early Middle
Ages. In 987, Hugh Capet, Count of Paris,
became king of France, and under his successors,
the Capetians, the city's position as
the nation's capital became established.
Often characterized as spirited and rebellious,
the people of Paris first declared themselves
an independent commune under the leadership
of Etienne Marcel in 1355-58. The storming
of the Bastille in 1789 was the first
of a series of key actions by the Parisian
people during the French Revolution. Paris
also played a major role in the revolutions
of 1830 and 1848. In 1871, during the
Franco-Prussian war , the city was besieged
for four months until France surrendered
After German troops withdrew, French radicals
briefly established the Commune of Paris.
During World War I the Germans were prevented
from reaching Paris, but they occupied
the city during World War II from 1940
to 1944. Paris was again the scene of
violence during the student riots of 1968.
Paris
today maintains its importance, character,
and charm, though its appearance is
being transformed by structures such
as the Beaubourg and by the ambitious
grands projets building program carried
out under the presidency of François
Mitterrand. In addition to the La Défense
arch and the Bastille Opéra,
Mitterrand's projects have included
the renovation of the Louvre by architect
I. M. Pei, the La Villette complex on
the northeastern edge of the city, and,
in the southeast, the Bibliothèque
de France, a great computer-age library.
Planning
for Paris and the Paris Basin region
includes consideration of large land
areas in the Seine River valley all
the way to the mouth of the river. New
towns, parks, industrial locations,
and expanded functions of existing towns
are contemplated for this corridor on
both sides of the Seine.
History
of Eiffel Tower
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