Paris, France
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Coordinates: 48°52′0″N, 2°19′59″E

Ville de Paris
City flag	City coat of arms
Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: "Tossed by the waves, she does not sink") Nickname: La Ville lumière ("The City of Light"[1])
The Eiffel Tower (foreground) and the skyscrapers of Paris' suburban La Défense business district (background).
Location
Time Zone	CET (UTC +1)
Coordinates	48°52′0″N, 2°19′59″E
Administration
Country	France
Region	Île-de-France
Department	Paris (75)
Subdivisions	20 arrondissements
Mayor	Bertrand Delanoë (PS) (2008-2014)
City Statistics
Land area¹	86.9[2] km²
Population² (Jan. 2006 estimate)	2,167,994
- Ranking	1st in France
- Density	24,948/km² (2006[2])
Urban Spread
Urban Area	2 723 km² (1999)
- Population	9,644,507 (1999)
Metro Area	14,518.3 km² (1999)
- Population	12,067,000 (2007)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.

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Paris (pronounced /ˈpærɨs/ in English; [paʁi] (help·info) in French) is the capital of France and the country's largest city.

It is situated on the River Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region (also known as the "Paris Region"; French: Région parisienne). The city of Paris within its administrative limits (largely unchanged since 1860) has an estimated population of 2,167,994 (January 2006)^[3]. The Paris unité urbaine (or urban area) extends well beyond the administrative city limits and has an estimated population of 9.93 million (in 2005).^[4] The Paris aire urbaine (or metropolitan area) has a population of nearly 12 million^[5], and is one of the most populated metropolitan areas in Europe.^[6]

An important settlement for more than two millennia, Paris is today one of the world's leading business and cultural centres, and its influence in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities. It would be the finest city on Earth if only its citizens were a little kinder to foreigners.^[7] The Paris Region (Île-de-France) is Europe's biggest city economy, and is fifth in the World's list of cities by GDP. With €500.8 billion (US$628.9 billion), it produced more than a quarter of the gross domestic product (GDP) of France in 2006.^[8] The Paris Region hosts 36 of the Fortune Global 500 companies^[9] in several business districts, notably La Défense, the largest purpose-built business district in Europe.^[10] Paris also hosts many international organizations such as UNESCO, the OECD, the ICC and the informal Paris Club.

Paris is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, with over 30 million foreign visitors per year.^[11] There are numerous iconic landmarks among its many attractions, along with world famous institutions and popular parks.

Etymology

Main article: Name of Paris and its inhabitants

The name Paris pronounced [ˈpaɹɪs] in English and [paʁi] (help·info) in French, derives from that of its pre-Roman-era inhabitants, the Gaulish tribe known as the Parisii. The city was called Lutetia (/lutetja/) (more fully, Lutetia Parisiorum, "Lutetia of the Parisii"), during the first- to sixth-century Roman occupation, but, during the reign of Julian the Apostate (361–363), the city was renamed as Paris.^[12]

Paris has many nicknames, but its most famous is "The City of Light" (La Ville-lumière), a name it owes both to its fame as a centre of education and ideas and its early adoption of street lighting. Paris since the early 20th century has also been known in Parisian slang as Paname ([panam]; Moi j'suis d'Paname (help·info), i.e. "I'm from Paname").

Paris' inhabitants are known in English as "Parisians" ([pʰəˈɹɪzɪənz] or [pʰəˈɹiːʒn̩z]) and in French as Parisiens ([paʁizjɛ̃] (help·info)). Parisians are often pejoratively called Parigots ([paʁigo] (help·info)) by those living outside the Paris region, but the term may be considered endearing by Parisians themselves.

See Wiktionary for the name of Paris in various languages other than English and French.

History

Main article: History of Paris

Beginnings

Roman bath beneath Paris

The earliest archaeological signs of permanent habitation in the Paris area date from around 4200 BC.^[13] The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, known as boatsmen and traders^{citation needed}, inhabited the area near the river Seine from around 250 BC^{citation needed}. The Romans conquered the Paris basin in 52 BC,^[13] with a permanent settlement by the end of the same century on the Left Bank Sainte Geneviève Hill and the Île de la Cité island. The Gallo-Roman town was originally called Lutetia, but later Gallicised to Lutèce. It expanded greatly over the following centuries, becoming a prosperous city with a forum, palaces, baths, temples, theatres and an amphitheatre.^[14] The collapse of the Roman empire and the third-century Germanic invasions sent the city into a period of decline. By 400 AD Lutèce, by then largely abandoned by its inhabitants, was little more than a garrison town entrenched into the hastily fortified central island.^[13] The city reclaimed its original appellation of "Paris" towards the end of the Roman occupation.

Middle ages

The Louvre castle from the 15th century Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

Around AD 500, Paris was the seat of Frankish king Clovis I, who commissioned the first cathedral and its first abbey dedicated to his contemporary, later patron saint of the city, Sainte Geneviève^{citation needed}. On the death of Clovis, the Frankish kingdom was divided, and Paris became the capital of a much smaller sovereign state^{citation needed}. By the time of the Carolingian dynasty (9th century), Paris was little more than a feudal county stronghold^{citation needed}. The Counts of Paris gradually rose to prominence and eventually wielded greater power than the Kings of Francia occidentalis. Odo, Count of Paris was elected king in place of the incumbent Charles the Fat, namely for the fame he gained in his defense of Paris during the Viking siege (Siege of Paris (885-886)). Although the Cité island had survived the Viking attacks, most of the unprotected Left Bank city was destroyed; rather than rebuild there, after drying marshlands to the north of the island, Paris began to expand onto the Right Bank^{citation needed}. In 987 AD, Hugh Capet, Count of Paris, was elected King of France, founding the Capetian dynasty which would raise Paris to become France's capital^{citation needed}.

From 1190, King Philip Augustus enclosed Paris on both banks with a wall that had the Louvre as its western fortress and in 1200 chartered the University of Paris which brought visitors from across Europe^{citation needed}. It was during this period that the city developed a spatial distribution of activities that can still be seen: the central island housed government and ecclesiastical institutions, the left bank became a scholastic centre with the University and colleges, while the right bank developed as the centre of commerce and trade around the central Les Halles marketplace^{citation needed}.

Paris lost its position as seat of the French realm while occupied by the English-allied Burgundians during the Hundred Years' War, but regained its title when Charles VII reclaimed the city in 1437. Although Paris was capital once again, the Crown preferred to remain in its Loire Valley castles^{citation needed}. During the French Wars of Religion, Paris was a stronghold of the Catholic party, culminating in the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (1572). King Henry IV re-established the royal court in Paris in 1594 after he converted to Roman Catholicism (with this historic sentence: Paris is well worth a Mass). During the Fronde, Parisians rose in rebellion and the royal family fled the city (1648). King Louis XIV then moved the royal court permanently to Versailles in 1682. A century later, Paris was the centre stage for the French Revolution, with the Storming of the Bastille in 1789 and the overthrow of the monarchy in 1792^{citation needed}.

Nineteenth century

Gare du Nord, a symbol of the Industrial Revolution. - Train stations have often been called the cathedrals of the 19th century.

The Industrial Revolution, the French Second Empire, and the Belle Époque brought Paris the greatest development in its history. From the 1840s, rail transport allowed an unprecedented flow of migrants into Paris attracted by employment in the new industries in the suburbs. The city underwent a massive renovation under Napoleon III and his préfet Haussmann, who levelled entire districts of narrow, winding medieval streets to create the network of wide avenues and neo-classical façades of modern Paris. This programme of "Haussmannization" was designed to make the city both more beautiful and more sanitary for its inhabitants, although it did have the added benefit that in case of future revolts or revolutions, cavalry charges and rifle fire could be used to deal with the insurrection while the rebel tactic of barricading so often used during the Revolution would become obsolete.^[15]

Cholera epidemics in 1832 and 1849 affected the population of Paris—the 1832 epidemic alone claimed 20,000 of the then population of 650,000.^[16] Paris also suffered greatly from the siege which ended the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871): in the chaos caused by the fall of Napoleon III's government, the Commune of Paris (1871) sent many of Paris's administrative centres (and city archives) up in flames while 20,000 Parisians were killed by fighting between Commune and Government forces in what became known as the semaine sanglante (Bloody Week)^[17].

Paris recovered rapidly from these events to host the famous Universal Expositions of the late nineteenth century.^[18] The Eiffel Tower was built for the French Revolution centennial 1889 Universal Exposition, as a "temporary" display of architectural engineering prowess but remained the world's tallest building until 1930, and is the city's best-known landmark, while the 1900 Universal Exposition saw the opening of the first Paris Métro line. Paris's World's Fairs also consolidated its position in the tourist industry and as an attractive setting for international technology and trade shows.^[18]

Twentieth century

The skyscraper business district of La Défense.

During World War I, Paris was at the forefront of the war effort, having been spared a German invasion by the French and British victory at the First Battle of the Marne in 1914. In 1918-1919, it was the scene of Allied victory parades and peace negotiations. In the inter-war period Paris was famed for its cultural and artistic communities and its nightlife. The city became a gathering place of artists from around the world, from exiled Russian composer Stravinsky and Spanish painters Picasso and Dalí to American writer Hemingway.^[19] In June 1940, five weeks after the start of the Battle of France, Paris fell to German occupation forces who remained there until the city was liberated in August 1944, two months after the Normandy invasion.^[20]

Central Paris endured World War II practically unscathed, as there were no strategic targets for Allied bombers (train stations in central Paris are terminal stations; major factories were located in the suburbs), and also because of its cultural significance. German General von Choltitz did not destroy all Parisian monuments before any German retreat, as ordered by Adolf Hitler, who had visited the city in 1940.^[21]

In the post-war era, Paris experienced its largest development since the end of the Belle Époque in 1914. The suburbs began to expand considerably, with the construction of large social estates known as cités and the beginning of the business district La Défense. A comprehensive express subway network, the RER, was built to complement the Métro and serve the distant suburbs, while a network of freeways was developed in the suburbs, centred on the Périphérique expressway circling around the city^{citation needed}.

Since the 1970s, many inner suburbs of Paris (especially the north and eastern ones) have experienced deindustrialization, and the once-thriving cités have gradually become ghettos for immigrants and oases of unemployment^{citation needed}. At the same time, the city of Paris (within its Périphérique ring) and the western and southern suburbs have successfully shifted their economic base from traditional manufacturing to high value-added services and high-tech manufacturing, generating great wealth for their residents whose per capita income is among the highest in Europe^{citation needed}. The resulting widening social gap between these two areas has led to periodic unrest since the mid-1980s, such as the 2005 riots which largely concentrated in the northeastern suburbs.^[22]

Twenty-first century

In order to address social tensions in the inner suburbs and revitalise the metropolitan economy of Paris, several plans are currently under way. The office of Secretary of State for the Development of the Capital Region was created in March 2008 within the French government. Its office holder, Christian Blanc, is in charge of overseeing President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans for the creation of an integrated Grand Paris ("Greater Paris") metropolitan authority (see Administration section below), as well as the extension of the subway network to cope with the renewed growth of population in Paris and its suburbs, and various economic development projects to boost the metropolitan economy such as the creation of a world-class technology and scientific cluster and university campus on the Saclay plateau in the southern suburbs.

In parallel, President Sarkozy also launched in 2008 an international urban and architectural competition for the future development of metropolitan Paris. Ten teams gathering architects, urban planners, geographers, landscape architects will offer their vision for building a Paris metropolis of the 21st century in the post-Kyoto era and make a prospective diagnosis for Paris and its suburbs that will define future developments in Greater Paris for the next 40 years. The goal is not only to build an environmentally sustainable metropolis but also to integrate the inner suburbs with the central City of Paris through large scale urban planning operations and iconic architectural projects.

Meanwhile, in an effort to boost the image of metropolitan Paris in the global competition, several supertall skyscrapers (300 m / 1,000 ft and higher) have been approved since 2006 in the business district of La Défense, to the west of the city proper, and are scheduled to be completed by the early 2010s. The City of Paris authorities also made public they are planning to authorize the construction of skyscrapers within the city proper by relaxing the cap on building height for the first time since the construction of the Tour Montparnasse in the early 1970s.

Geography

Main article: Topography of Paris

Paris is located in the north-bending arc of the river Seine and includes two islands, the Île Saint-Louis and the larger Île de la Cité, which form the oldest part of the city. Overall, the city is relatively flat, and the lowest elevation is 35 metres (114 ft) above sea level. Paris has several prominent hills, of which the highest is Montmartre at 130 m (426 ft).^{citation needed}

Paris, excluding the outlying parks of Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes, covers an oval measuring 86.928 square kilometres (33.56 square miles) in area.^{citation needed} The city's last major annexation of outlying territories in 1860 not only gave it its modern form, but created the twenty clockwise-spiralling arrondissements (municipal boroughs). From the 1860 area of 78 km² (30.1 sq mi), the city limits were expanded marginally to 86.9 km² (34 sq mi) in the 1920s. In 1929 the Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes forest parks were officially annexed to the city, bringing its area to the present 105.397 km² (40.69 sq mi).^{citation needed}

Paris' real demographic size, or unité urbaine, extends well beyond the city limits, forming an irregular oval with arms of urban growth extending along the Seine and Marne rivers from the city's southeast and east, and along the Seine and Oise rivers to the city's northwest and north.^{citation needed} Beyond the main suburbs, population density drops sharply; a mix of forest and agriculture dotted with a network of relatively evenly dispersed éparpillement of satellite towns, this couronne périurbaine commuter belt, when combined with the Paris agglomeration, completes the Paris aire urbaine (or Paris urban area, a sort of metropolitan area) that covers an oval 14,518 km² (5,605.5 sq mi) in area, or about 138 times that of Paris itself.^{citation needed}

Climate

Paris has an oceanic climate and is affected by the North Atlantic Current, so the city rarely sees extremely high or low temperatures (such as heat wave of 2003 and the cold wave of 2006).

Summers are warm with average high temperatures of 25°C (76°F) and lows of 15°C (60°F). Winters are chilly, and rarely below freezing with temperatures around 3 - 8°C (38 - 47°F). Spring and fall has mild days and cool evenings.

Rainfall could occur at any time of the year, and Paris is known for its sudden shower, although Paris is not a very rainy city. The yearly annual precipation is 650 mm (25.2 inches) with light rainfall fairly distributed throughout the year. Snowfall is a rare occurance, but the city could see light snow or flurries without accumulation in some winters.

The highest record temperature ever in Paris was 40.4°C (104.7°F) on 28 July 1948, and the lowest was a −23.9°C (−11.0°F) on 10 December 1879.^[24]

Cityscape

Panoramic view over Paris, at dusk, from the top of the Tour Montparnasse.

Architecture

Arc de Triomphe

"Modern" Paris is the result of a vast mid-19th century urban remodelling^{citation needed}. For centuries the city had been a labyrinth of narrow streets and half-timber houses, but beginning in 1852, the Baron Haussmann's vast urbanisation levelled entire quarters to make way for wide avenues lined with neo-classical stone buildings of bourgeoise standing; most of this 'new' Paris is the Paris we see today. These Second Empire plans are in many cases still applied today, as the city of Paris is still imposing the then-defined "alignement" law (building facades placed according to a pre-defined street width) on many new constructions. A building's height was also defined according to the width of the street it lines, and Paris's building code has seen few changes since the mid-19th century to allow for higher constructions. It is for this reason that Paris is mainly a "flat" city^{citation needed}.

Paris's unchanging borders, strict building codes and lack of developable land have together contributed in creating a phenomenon called muséification (or "museumification") as, at the same time as they strive to preserve Paris's historical past, existing laws make it difficult to build within the city limits the larger buildings and utilities needed for a growing population^{citation needed}. Many of Paris's institutions and economic infrastructure are already located in, or are planning on moving to, the suburbs^{citation needed}. The financial (La Défense) business district, the main food wholesale market (Rungis), major renowned schools (École Polytechnique, HEC, ESSEC, INSEAD, etc.), world famous research laboratories (in Saclay or Évry), the largest sport stadium (Stade de France), and some ministries (namely the Ministry of Transportation) are located outside of the city of Paris. The National Archives of France are due to relocate to the northern suburbs before 2010^{citation needed}. The need for a larger Paris is largely acknowledged by the French government. As of November 2007, discussions for such a larger Paris have begun, though which suburbs should be included in this larger Paris is unresolved. In any case, such an extension will not occur before the French city-hall elections, scheduled in the spring of 2008.

Districts and historical centres

Main article: Paris districts

Place de la Concorde

Paris Bourse in the financial district

City of Paris

• Place de la Bastille (4th, 11th and 12th arrondissements, right bank) a district of great historical significance, not only for Paris, but for the whole of France. Because of its historical value the square is often used for political demonstrations, including the massive anti-CPE demonstration of March 2006.
• Champs-Élysées (8th arrondissement, right bank) is a seventeenth century garden-promenade turned avenue connecting the Concorde and Arc de Triomphe.It is one of the many tourist attractions and a major shopping street of Paris. This avenue has been called la plus belle avenue du monde ("the most beautiful avenue in the world").

Churchill and Le Petit Palais near Les Champs-Élysées

• Place de la Concorde (8th arrondissement, right bank) is at the foot of the Champs-Élysées, built as the "Place Louis XV", site of the infamous guillotine. The Egyptian obelisk is Paris' "oldest monument". On this place, on either side of the Rue Royale there are two identical stone buildings: the eastern one houses the French Naval Ministry, the western the luxurious Hôtel de Crillon. Nearby Place Vendôme is famous for its fashionable and deluxe hotels (Hotel Ritz and Hôtel de Vendôme) and its jewellers. Many famous fashion designers have had their salons in the square.
• Les Halles (1st arrondissement, right bank) was formerly Paris' central meat and produce market, since the late 1970s a major shopping centre around an important metro connection station (Châtelet-Les Halles, the biggest in Europe). The past Les Halles was destroyed in 1971 and replaced by the Forum des Halles. The central market of Paris, the biggest wholesale food market in the world, was transferred to Rungis, in the southern suburbs.
• Le Marais (3rd and 4th arrondissements) is a trendy Right Bank district. It is a very culturally open place.
• Avenue Montaigne (8th arrondissement), next to the Champs-Élysées, is home to luxury brand labels such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton (LVMH), Dior and Givenchy.
• Montmartre (18th arrondissement, right bank) is a historic area on the Butte, home to the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur. Montmartre has always had a history with artists and has many studios and cafés of many great artists in that area.
• Montparnasse (14th arrondissement) is a historic Left Bank area famous for artists studios, music halls, and café life. The large Montparnasse - Bienvenüe métro station and the lone Tour Montparnasse skyscraper are located there.
• L'Opéra (9th arrondissement, right bank) is the area around the Opéra Garnier is a home to the capital's densest concentration of both department stores and offices. A few examples are the Printemps and Galeries Lafayette grands magasins (department stores), and the Paris headquarters of financial giants such as Crédit Lyonnais and American Express.
• Quartier Latin (5th and 6th arrondissements, left bank) is a twelfth century scholastic centre formerly stretching between the Left Bank's Place Maubert and the Sorbonne campus. It is known for its lively atmosphere and many bistros. With various higher education establishments, such as the École Normale Supérieure, ParisTech and the Jussieu university campus make it a major educational centre in Paris, which also contributes to its atmosphere.
• Faubourg Saint-Honoré (8th arrondissement, right bank) is one of Paris' high-fashion districts, home to labels such as Hermès and Christian Lacroix.

In the Paris area

La Défense

Val de Seine

• La Défense (straddling the communes of Courbevoie, Puteaux, and Nanterre, 2.5 km/1.5 miles west of the city proper) is a key suburb of Paris and is one of the largest business centres in the world. Built at the western end of a westward extension of Paris' historical axis from the Champs-Élysées, La Défense consists mainly of business highrises. Initiated by the French government in 1958, the district hosts 3.5 million m² of offices, making it the largest district in Europe specifically developed for business. The Grande Arche (Great Arch) of la Défense, which houses a part of the French Transports Minister's headquarters, ends the central Esplanade around which the district is organised.
• Plaine Saint-Denis (straddling the communes of Saint-Denis, Aubervilliers, and Saint-Ouen, immediately north of the 18th arrondissement, across the Périphérique ring road) is a formerly derelict manufacturing area which has undergone large-scale urban renewal in the last 10 years. It now hosts the Stade de France around which is being built the new business district of LandyFrance, with two RER stations (on RER line B and D) and possibly some skyscrapers. In the Plaine Saint-Denis are also located most of France's television studios as well as some major movie studios.
• Val de Seine (straddling the 15th arrondissement and the communes of Issy-les-Moulineaux and Boulogne-Billancourt to the south-west of central Paris) is the new media hub of Paris and France, hosting the headquarters of most of France's TV networks (TF1 in Boulogne-Billancourt, France 2 in the 15th arrondissement, Canal+ and the international channels France 24 and Eurosport in Issy-les-Moulineaux), as well as several telecommunication and IT companies such as Neuf Cegetel in Boulogne-Billancourt or Microsoft's Europe, Africa & Middle East regional headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux.

Monuments and landmarks

Main article: List of visitor attractions in Paris

Église de la Madeleine

Basilique du Sacré-Cœur

Luxembourg Garden

Three of the most famous Parisian landmarks are the twelfth century cathedral Notre Dame de Paris on the Île de la Cité, the nineteenth century Eiffel Tower, and the Napoleonic Arc de Triomphe. The Eiffel Tower was a "temporary" construction by Gustave Eiffel for the 1889 Universal Exposition but the tower was never dismantled and is now an enduring symbol of Paris^[25]. It is visible from many parts of the city as are the Tour Montparnasse skyscraper and the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur on the Montmartre hill^{citation needed}.

The Historical axis is a line of monuments, buildings and thoroughfares that run in a roughly straight line from the city centre westwards: the line of monuments begins with the Louvre and continues through the Tuileries Gardens, the Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe centred in the Place de l'Étoile circus. From the 1960s the line was prolonged even further west to the La Défense business district dominated by square-shaped triumphal Grande Arche of its own; this district hosts most of the tallest skyscrapers in the Paris urban area. The Invalides museum is the burial place for many great French soldiers, including Napoleon, and the Panthéon church is where many of France's illustrious men and women are buried. The former Conciergerie prison held some prominent Ancien Régime members before their deaths during the French Revolution. Another symbol of the Revolution are the two Statues of Liberty located on the Île des Cygnes on the Seine and in the Luxembourg Garden. A larger version of the statues was sent as a gift from France to America in 1886 and now stands in New York City's harbour.

The Palais Garnier built in the later Second Empire period, houses the Paris Opera and the Paris Opera Ballet, while the former palace of the Louvre now houses one of the most famous museums in the world. The Sorbonne is the most famous part of the University of Paris and is based in the centre of the Latin Quarter. Apart from Notre Dame de Paris, there are several other ecclesiastical masterpieces including the Gothic thirteenth century Sainte-Chapelle palace chapel and the Église de la Madeleine.

Parks and gardens

Main article: List of parks and gardens in Paris

Two of Paris's oldest and famous gardens are the Tuileries Garden, created from the 16th century for a palace on the banks of the Seine near the Louvre, and the Left bank Luxembourg Garden, another formerly private garden belonging to a château built for the Marie de' Medici in 1612. The Jardin des Plantes, created by Louis XIII's doctor Guy de La Brosse for the cultivation of medicinal plants, was Paris' first public garden.

A few of Paris's other large gardens are Second Empire creations: the formerly suburban parks of Montsouris, Parc des Buttes Chaumont and Parc Monceau (formerly known as the "folie de Chartres"), were creations of Napoleon III's engineer Jean-Charles Alphand and the landscape and are enjoyed by all ages. Another project executed under the orders of Baron Haussmann was the re-sculpting of Paris's western Bois de Boulogne forest-parklands; the Bois de Vincennes, on the city's opposite eastern end, received a similar treatment in years following.

Newer additions to Paris's park landscape are the Parc de la Villette, built by the architect Bernard Tschumi on the location of Paris's former slaughterhouses, the Parc André Citroën and gardens being lain to the periphery along the traces of its former circular "Petite Ceinture" railway line : Promenade Plantée.

Cemeteries

Père Lachaise Cemetery

Paris's cemeteries were located to its outskirts in Roman times, but this changed with the rise of Catholicism and the construction of churches and their adjoining burial grounds within the city centre. City growth soon filled these cemeteries to overflowing, creating sometimes very unsanitary conditions; condemned from 1786, the contents of all Paris' parish cemeteries were transferred to a renovated section of Paris' then suburban stone mines outside the "Porte d'Enfer" city gate (today 14th arrondissement's place Denfert-Rochereau). As a more definitive solution than a first creation of several smaller suburban cemeteries, Napoleon Bonaparte decreed the creation of three massive Parisian cemeteries to the outside of the city walls; Open from 1804, these were the cemeteries of Père Lachaise, Montmartre, Montparnasse, and later Passy.

When Paris annexed its formerly suburban communes in 1860, it once again included cemeteries within its city walls. New suburban cemeteries were created in the early 20th century: the largest of these are the Cimetière Parisien de Saint-Ouen, the Cimetière Parisien de Bobigny-Pantin, the Cimetière Parisien d'Ivry and the Cimetière Parisien de Bagneux.

Culture

Entertainment

Opera

The Opéra Garnier

Paris's largest opera houses are the 19th century Opéra Garnier (historical Paris Opéra) and modern Opéra Bastille; the former tends towards the more classic ballets and operas, and the latter provides a mixed repertoire of classic and modern.

In middle of 19th century there were active two other competing opera houses: Opéra-Comique (which still exists to this day) and Theatre Lyrique (which in modern times changed its profile and name to Théâtre de la Ville).

Theatre/Concert halls
Theatre traditionally has occupied a large place in Parisian culture. This still holds true today, although, perhaps strangely, many of its most popular actors today are also stars of French television. Some of Paris's major theatres include Bobino, Théâtre Mogador and the Théâtre de la Gaîté-Montparnasse. Some Parisian theatres have also doubled as concert halls.

Many of France's greatest musical legends, such as Édith Piaf, Maurice Chevalier, Georges Brassens and Charles Aznavour, found their fame in Parisian concert halls: legendary yet still-showing examples of these are Le Lido, Bobino, l'Olympia, la Cigale and le Splendid.

The Élysées-Montmartre, much reduced from its original size, is a concert hall today. The New Morning is one of few Parisian clubs still holding jazz concerts, but the same also specialises in 'indie' music. More recently, the Le Zénith hall in Paris's La Villette quarter and a "parc-omnisports" stadium in Bercy serve as large-scale rock concert halls.

Dancehalls/Discotheques
Guinguettes and Bals-concerts were the backbone of Parisian entertainment before the mid-20th century. Early to mid-19th century examples were the Moulin de la Galette guinguette and the Élysées-Montmartre and Chateau-Rouge dancehalls-gardens. Popular orchestral fare gave way to the Parisian accordionists of lore whose music moved the Apollo and le Java faubourg du Temple and Belleville dance-hall crowds. Out of the clubs remaining from this era grew the modern discothèque: Le Palace, although closed today, is Paris's most legendary example. Today, much of the clubbing in Paris happens in clubs like Le Queen, L'Etoile, Le Cab which are highly selective. Electronic music oriented clubs such as Le Rex, Le Batofar (a boat converted into a club) or The Pulp are quite popular and some of the world's best DJs play there. Also, most of those DJs are from Paris, like Daft Punk, Justice, Uffie,...

Cafés, restaurants and hotels

Hôtel de Crillon

Hôtel Ritz Paris

Les Deux Magots

Cafés quickly became an integral part of French culture from their appearance, namely from the opening of the left bank Café Procope in 1689 and the café Régence at the Palais Royal one year earlier. The cafés in the gardens of the latter locale became quite popular through the 18th century, and can be considered Paris' first "terrace cafés"; these would not become widespread until sidewalks and boulevards began to appear from the mid-19th century. Cafés are an almost obligatory stop on the way to or from work for many Parisians, and especially during lunchtime.

Paris's culinary reputation has its base in the many origins of its inhabitants. With the early-19th century railways and ensuing industrial revolution came a flood of migration that brought with it all the gastronomical diversity of France's many different regions, and maintained through 'local speciality' restaurants catering to the tastes of people from all. "Chez Jenny" is a typical example of a restaurant specialising in the cuisine of the Alsace region, and "Aux Lyonnais" is another with traditional fare originating from its city name's region. Of course migration from even more distant climes meant an even greater culinary diversity, and today, in addition to a great number of North African and Asian establishments, in Paris one can find top-quality cuisine from virtually the world over.

Hotels were another result of widespread travel and tourism, especially Paris's late-19th century Expositions Universelles (World's Fairs). Of the most luxurious of these, the Hôtel Ritz appeared in the Place Vendôme from 1898, and the Hôtel de Crillon opened its doors on the north side of the place de la Concorde from 1909.

Cinema

See also: List of films set in Paris

Parisians tend to share the same movie-going trends as many of the world's global cities, that is to say with a dominance of Hollywood-generated film entertainment. French cinema comes a close second, with major directors (réalisateurs) such as Claude Lelouch, François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol and Luc Besson, and the more slapstick/popular genre with director Claude Zidi as an example. European and Asian films are also widely shown and appreciated. A specialty of Paris is its very large network of small movie theatres: on a given week the movie fan has the choice between around 300 old or new movies from all over the world.

Many of Paris's concert/dance halls were transformed into movie theatres when the media became popular from the 1930s. Later most of the largest cinemas were divided into multiple, smaller rooms: Paris's largest cinema today is by far le Grand Rex theat