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Sacré-Coeur,Montmartre

The Sacré-Coeur Basilica is one of Paris's major tourist draws. The majestic building is located on top of the Montmartre hill.
Above all, Montmartre, an area on a hill in the 18th arrondissement, north of downtown Paris, is known for its many artists who have been omnipresent since 1880. The name Montmartre is said to be derived from either Mount of Martyrs or from Mount of Mars. Until 1873, when the Sacré-Coeur was built on top of the hill, Montmartre was a small village, inhabited by a mostly farming community.

The Basilica Project

The project to build the Sacré-Coeur Basilica (Basilica of the Sacred Heart) was initiated by a group of influential people. Their reasons to build this monument was two-fold:

King Louis IX

they had pledged to build a church if Paris escaped unscathed from the war with the Prussians and they saw the defeat of the French at the hands of the Prussian army in 1870 as a moral condemnation of the sins of Paris.

The project was authorized by the National Assembly in 1873, and a competition was organized. The goal was to build an imposing basilica true to Christian traditions.

The Building

The winner of the competition was Paul Abadie, who had already restored two cathedrals in France. He designed an immense basilica in a Roman-Byzantyne style. This architectural style stands in sharp contrast with other contemporary buildings in France,which were mostly built in a Romanesque style.

View from the Basilica to Paris.

Construction of the Basilica started in 1876 with Abadie as the lead architect. When Paul Abadie died in 1884, he was succeeded by Lucien Magne, who added an 83 meter (272 ft) tall clock tower. The Savoyarde clock installed here is one of the world's largest.

Due to its location on the Montmartre hill, the basilica towers over the city; its highest point is even higher than the top of the Eiffel Tower. Thanks to this prominent location the Sacré-Coeur Basilica is one of the most noticeable landmarks in Paris.

White Stones
The Sacré-Coeur Basilica has managed to keep its beaming white color even in the polluted air of a big city like Paris. This can be attributed to the Château-Landon stones which were used for the construction of the Sacré-Coeur. When it rains, the stones react to the water and secrete calcite, which acts like a bleacher.

Once a royal palace and later a prison, the Conciergerie played a dark role in the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror.

Palais de la Cité

Located on the west side of the Île de la Cité, the Conciergerie began its life as a royal palace - the Palais de la Cité. The impressive site was chosen by Phillippe le Bel (Philip the Fair) in the early fourteenth century so that on it he could build a palace that would reflect his wealth and stature. In its heyday - the Middle Ages - the palace was considered one of the finest in the world.

Conciergerie

By the end of the same century, however, Charles V and the Capetian kings chose the palaces of Louvre and Vincennes over the Palais de la Cité (which also includes the current Paris Law Courts and the magnificent Sainte-Chapelle), and what was to eventually become "The Conciergerie" was given over to the Parliament to be used for the kingdom's administrative offices. The care of the palace was left to a gentleman known as the Concierge - thus the name - who had legal and police authority in the city.

Prison
By 1391, the palace had been converted to a prison for both common and political criminals. Wealthy prisoners were given the best accommodations in the former palace while petty thieves were made to sleep in dark, rodent-infested rooms where they often succumbed to diseases such as the plague.

A few remnants of the Conciergerie remain from the Middle Ages: the Silver Tower, which supposedly housed the royal treasury; the Caesar Tower, named for the Roman emperors; and the Bonbec Tower, which housed a torture chamber.

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During the Reign of Terror

The French Revolution (1789-1799) was one of the most violent periods in French history. During these years, the Conciergerie became famous as the location where prisoners were held before they were taken to the guillotine to be beheaded. It also housed the Revolutionary Tribunal, a court set up to trial opponents of the French Revolution.

According to records, the Tribunal sat in the Great Hall of the palace between April 1793 and May 1795 and sent nearly 2,600 prisoners to the guillotine, including Marie Antoinette. Ironically, the original head of the Tribunal, Maximilien Robespierre, was imprisoned here in the Conciergerie before being sent to the guillotine in 1794.

The Later Years

After the Revolution ended, the Conciergerie continued to be used for what the French considered the most important prisoners, such as Napoleon III.

ConciergerieThough it's difficult to tell given its medieval appearance, extensive rebuilding and renovations took place at the palace in the mid-nineteenth century, including the conversion of Marie Antoinette's cell to a chapel. The building was decommissioned for official use in 1914 and then opened to the public as a national historic monument. It remains a popular tourist attraction though access to most of the building is severely limited.

At eight hectares (20 acres), the octagonal Place de la Concorde is the largest square in Paris. It is situated between the Tuileries and the Champs-Elysées.

Creation

In 1763, a large statue of king Louis XV was erected at this site to celebrate the recovery of the king after a serious illness. The square surrounding the statue was created later, in 1772, by the architect Jacques-Ange Gabriel. It was known as the place Louis XV.

Guillotine

In 1792, during the French revolution, the statue was replaced by a another, large statue, called 'Liberté' (freedom) and the square was called Place de la Révolution. A guillotine was installed at the center of the square and in a time span of only a couple of years, 1119 people were beheaded here. Amongst them many famous people like King Louis XVI, Marie-Antionette, and Cleopatra's Needlerevolutionary Robespierre, just to name a few. After the revolution the square was renamed several times until 1830, when it was given the current name 'Place de la Concorde'.

Obelisk

In the nineteenth century the 3200 years old obelisk from the temple of Ramses II at Thebes was installed at the center of the Place de la Concorde. It is a 23 meters (75 ft) tall monolith in pink granite and weighs approximately 230 tons. In 1831, it was offered by the Viceroy of Egypt to Louis Philippe.

Three obelisks were offered by the Viceroy, but only one was transported to Paris.

The obelisk - sometimes dubbed 'L'aiguille de Cléopâtre' or Cleopatra's Needle - is covered with hieroglyphs picturing the reign of pharaohs Ramses II & Ramses III. Pictures on the pedestal describe the transportation to Paris and its installation at the square in 1836.

Fontaine des Mers

At each corner of the octagonal square is a statue representing a French city: Bordeaux, Brest, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Rouen and Strasbourg. They were installed in 1836 by Jacob Ignaz Hittorf, who redesigned the Place de la Concorde between 1833 and 1846. That same year a bronze fountain, called 'La fontaine des Mers' was added to the square. A second one, the 'Elevation of the Maritime' fountain, was installed in 1839. Both fountains were designed by Hittorf.

Orientation

From the Place de la Concorde you can see the Arc de Triomphe (west), the Madeleine (north), the Tuileries (east) and, across the Seine, the Palais Bourbon, now the Assemblée Nationale(south).

The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel is the smallest of the three arches on the Triumphal Way, the central axis between the Louvre and La Défense. The arch is crowned with a bronze chariot.

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The other two arches are the Grande Arche de la Défense and the Arc de Triomphe de l'étoile, the most famous of the three.

Like the latter, the Arc du Carrousel was commissioned by Emperor Napoleon in 1806 to commemorate his Austrian victories and honor his grand army.

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Construction

The Arc du Carrousel was built from 1806 to 1808 at a site between the Louvre and the Palais de Tuileries. This palace was destroyed in 1871 allowing an unobstructed view west towards the Place de la Concorde.

Design

The design of the triumphal arch was based on the Arch of Constantine in Rome. The arch has three archways; the largest, central one is 6.5m or 21ft high. The whole structure is 19m (63 ft) high and 23m (75ft) wide.

Statues

On top of the arch were four gilded bronze horses taken by Napoleon from St. Mark's Square in Venice. The statues were returned to Venice after Napoleon's downfall at Waterloo.
In 1828 a bronze quadriga pulled by replica versions of the horses - created by François Joseph Bosio - was installed as a replacement.

Originally a statue of Napoleon was supposed to be put in the chariot but he rejected the idea so the chariot stayed empty until the restoration of 1828 when an allegorical figure took the place of the emperor. It is flanked by statues symbolizing Victory and Peace.

Bas-relief detail

The eight marble Corinthian pillars are topped with statues of soldiers from Napoleon's army. And in true Roman fashion, the arch contains several bas-reliefs depicting the story of his military campaign. The bas-reliefs were removed by the allied army in 1815 but they were put in place again in 1830.

Entry to Vienna De seine Arc du Carrousel

Arc de Triomphe de Carrousel - Surrender of Ulm

The Jardin des Tuileries is one of Paris's most visited gardens thanks to its central location between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde. As such the Tuileries are part of a grand central axis leading from the Louvre all the way to La Défense, the city's business district.

Palais de Tuileries

In the early sixteenth century the area was a clay quarry for tiles (tuilerie in French, hence the name). After the death of her husband Henri II in 1559, Catherine de Médicis had a Palace built at the tuileries, the Palais de Tuileries. The palace featured a large garden in Italian style, reminding her of her native Tuscany.

Le Nôtre's Design

Between 1660 and 1664 the garden was redesigned in French formal style by André Le Nôtre, the celebrated gardener of the Sun King, best known for his design of the gardens at the Versailles Palace. Le Nôtre built a terrace along the riverbank and opened up a central axis which he extended three years later with the creation of the Champs-Elysées.

The Jardin des Tuileries was one of the first parks to open to the public and it quickly became a place to see and be seen. Even in the eighteenth century the park featured amenities such as cafes, kiosks, deck chairs and public toilets.

The Palais des Tuileries, situated near the Arc du Carrousel, was razed in 1871 by the Communards, opening up the view from the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe.

Renovation

Most recently renovated in 1990, Le Nôtre's formal design of the Tuileries garden has been kept intact. At the same time the park was separated from car traffic. Many modern sculptures were added and in 1999 the Passerelle de Solférino (now the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor), a footbridge across the Seine opened, linking the Tuileries with the Musée d'Orsay.

The Park Today

Like the Jardin du Luxembourg, Jardin des Tuileries is one of those parks where you can grab a chair for free and sit wherever you like. It also features several fountains, two large basins, numerous sculptures and two museums: the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume and the Musée de l'Orangerie, which displays Claude Monet's large water lily paintings. Those two buildings are the only remains of the original Palais de Tuileries.

Place Vendôme, a prestigious square located in the first arrondissement, was created as a monument to the glory of the armies of Louis XIV, the Sun King.

Place Vendôme (Vendome Square) was laid out in 1702. Architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart, who built most of the Versailles Palace, had originally purchased the land where it sits in hopes of making some money in real estate.

But when the venture was unsuccessful, the land was given to the King's minister of Finance, who proposed the public square. Appearing octagonal in shape, the square was to be built near the site formerly occupied by the palace of the First Duke of Vendome.

Later, when the land passed from the minister to King Louis XIV, Mansart re-entered the picture
and was drafted to create the design for the square meant to rival the Place des Vosges, which had a statue of the king's predecessor - Louis XIII - at its center. Similar to the Place des Vosges, Mansard made all the buildings on the square identical, with arched ground floors and tall-windowed second floors. Pilasters and ornamental pillars were placed between each set of windows.

Place des Conquêtes

Place Vendôme was originally known as Place des Conquêtes (Conquests Square) but was later renamed to Place Louis le Grand (Louis the Great Square) when things weren't going so well for Louis' armies. However, a statue of the king was indeed erected in the square and remained there for about a hundred years until it was torn down in 1792, during the French Revolution.

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Colonne Vendôme

The column you will find today in the center of the square was erected by Napoleon as the Colonne d'Austerlitz. The 44 meter tall column (144 ft) is modeled after Rome's Trajan Column. It was built to commemorate the victory at Austerlitz in 1805, one of Napoleon's greatest. The column's continuous ribbon of bas-relief bronze plates by the sculptor Pierre-Nolasque Bergeret were made from Statue of Napoleon 1200 cannons taken from the combined armies of Russia and Austria during that battle. The reliefs depict scenes during the Napoleonic Wars between 1805 and 1807.

The column was first known as the Colonne d'Austerlitz and it later was given the names of Colonne de la Victoire (Victory Column) and Colonne de la Grande Armée (Column of the Great Army). Today it is commonly known as the Colonne Vendôme.

A statue of Napoleon was installed at the top of the column in 1810. Later, the statue of the emperor was removed and the bronze melted down to provide the bronze for the recast of the equestrian statue of Henri IV on the Pont Neuf. A new statue was installed in 1833 which was later replaced by the statue that is seen today. It was erected by Napoleon III and depicts Napoleon I as a Roman emperor.

Place Vendôme in Modern Times

The buildings on Place Vendôme serve today as residences as well as retail stores, including those belonging to two famous jewelers and a number of well-known dress designers. The very expensive Hotel Ritz and Hotel Vendôme are also located on the square.

A number of famous people have also lived along Place Vendôme, including composer Frédéric Chopin (who died in no. 12), author George Sand and Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, who resided at the Ritz for a while. Ernest Hemingway even claimed to have helped liberate the Ritz in 1944.

An officially designated historic district, Montmartre is one of the most colorful neighborhoods in Paris so it's no surprise that this area is a favorite among tourists.

Stairs up Montmartre

Its Past

A hill that reaches a height of about 130 meters (427 feet), located in the north of Paris in the eighteenth arrondissement, Montmartre has long been known as the premier artist's enclave in the city.

The word Montmartre is translated to mean "mountain of the martyr" and was derived from the martyrdom of Saint Denis - the bishop of Paris - who was decapitated a top the hill in 250 AD.

This hill outside the city was settled because, during the nineteenth century, the emperor Napoleon III had given much of the prime land inside the city to his wealthy friends, who were charged with the task of developing it. The original inhabitants were forced to move to Paris's outskirts where they quickly established their own "town" sans the rules and regulations of the city.

That's part of the reason why Montmartre quickly became a popular drinking area, and by the late eighteenth century, along with the liquor came a number of entertainment establishments that were less than reputable, like Moulin Rouge and Le Chat Noir (The Black Cat).

Place du Tertre

During the mid to late 1800s, artists also began calling Montmartre home. Pissarro and Jongkind were two of the first to live there, followed by such greats as Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse, Toulouse-Lautrec, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Pablo Picasso, just to name a few. Composers, like Erik Satie, also lived in the area.

Montmartre Today

As a designated historic area, little development is allowed in Montmartre so, thankfully, it has retained much of its character and village-like charm. Just walking around the district is a treat, but if you want to do some

The Funiculaire

sightseeing or cultural visits, head to the Musée de Montmartre, where artist Maurice Utrillo once lived and painted, as well as the mansion behind it, which was once occupied by Renoir.

A trip to the Montmartre Cemetery is also in order, and guests can view the graves of many great artists. Of course, you may also want to take in dinner and a show at Moulin Rouge or one of the many other nightclubs in the neighborhood.

To get to the top of Montmartre, guests can hop aboard the funicular railroad that ascends the hill from the south toward the Sacré-Coeur Basilica. You can also take the Montmartre Bus which stops near many notable sights on the hill.

Sacré-Coeur

Montmartre's most recognizable landmark is the Basilica du Sacré-Coeur, constructed from 1876 to 1912. The white dome of this Roman Catholic basilica sits at the highest point in the city, at the summit of the "butte Montmartre" and the church is visited by millions of tourists each year.

Place du Tertre

Place du Tertre, a square in the eighteenth arrondissement, is located just a few blocks from the basilica. It is here that today's artists set up their easels and tempt passers-by with their works of art.

Paintings at the Place du Tertre

Many will ask if they can paint your portrait, which - of course - would be a lovely souvenir of Paris.

A treat to visit, Place du Tertre is a throw-back to the days when the world's best artists lived in Montmartre and did the same, eventually forging a name for themselves in the world of art.

Parc de la Turlure

If the often overcrowded Place du Tertre is too hectic for you, then you can take refuge in the Parc de la Turlure, a small park situated right behind the Sacré-Coeur Basilica. This site was once occupied the moulin de Turlure, one of more than thirty windmills that once stood on this hill. The park features a beautiful pergola and a cascade fountain.

Cimetière de Montmartre
An even quieter retreat is the Cimetière de Montmartre, a large cemetery on the west side of Montmartre that was established here during the French Revolution. It is known as the artists' cemetery since many painters, literary figures and composers lie buried here, including Montmartre's own Edgar Degas.

The Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle is a large natural history museum in Paris. The museum is dedicated to the evolution of life and the relation between the human species and its environment.

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The museum's origins go back to the creation of the Jardin des Plantes, which was created in 1635 as a medicinal garden. Its vast collections are distributed over several buildings that occupy the south side of the garden.

History

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the Jardin des Plantes was not just a medicinal garden but also a site of research and education about natural species. In 1793, during the French Revolution it became a proper museum which quickly expanded into fields such as zoology, paleontology, mineralogy, chemistry, botany and the anatomy of species.

Many of those collections have been spun off and are now housed separately, in premises situated on the Jardin des Plantes. Other collections, such as those of the Musée de l'Homme (a museum of anthropology) and the Marinarium de Concarneau (a marine biology museum), have moved to different locations.

The Museum Galleries

Grande Galerie de l'Évolution

The centerpiece of the Natural History Museum is the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution, which opened in 1994 as the successor of the Zoology Museum. This museum, which was founded in 1889, displayed a collection of mounted animals until it was closed in 1965.

After a decade long renovation the museum finally reopened as the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution, a museum themed around the evolution of species. Its collection of mounted animals is no longer protected by glass cases but displayed in the open. A movie director was even hired to stage the displays as dramatic as possible.

Whale skeleton

On the ground floor, which revolves around the marine world, visitors are welcomed by two huge whale skeletons. You can see animal species that live underwater as well as animals that live near the water such as birds and polar bears. The first floor is dedicated to the large mammals. The highlight here is the procession of animals from the savannah, led by an African elephant. The second floor focuses on the interaction between humans and other species. Interesting here is the large room full of extinct and endangered species. Finally, the top floor explains the diversity and evolution of life and introduces visitors to the study of genetics.

The same building is also home to the separate 'Galerie des Enfants', a museum dedicated to educating children about the environment and biodiversity.

Galeries d'Anatomie comparée et de Paléontologie

The Galeries d'Anatomie comparée et de Paléontologie (paleontology and comparative anatomy) are housed in a building in the southeast corner of the Jardin des Plantes. The collection of this department of the natural history museum is a lot more fascinating than its long name might suggest.

The galleries of this museum are crammed with hundreds of animal skeletons, from small mammals to huge dinosaurs. You can compare the skeletons of different animal types or stand in awe of the sheer size of a fin whale. There are also many skeletons of extinct species, such as mammoths or a sarcosuchus, a superlative version of today's crocodile.

Galerie de Minéralogie et de Géologie

An almost 200 meter long gallery near the main building of the natural history museum houses a selection from the more than 750,000 specimens that are displayed here. There are minerals, rocks, gems and even meteorites that create a magnificent display of spectacular colors and shapes. The museum's history goes back to the seventeenth century, when the first crystals were collected for pharmaceutical purposes.

Galerie de Botanique

Between the mineralogy gallery and paleontology gallery is the botanical gallery, a museum dedicated to the world of plants. The largest object on display - from its collection of about eight million - is a slice of a sequoia tree which measures 2.7 meters in diameter. The museum highlights the industrial use of plants in areas such as pharmacy and chemistry.

The Panthéon, an imposing nineteenth-century building, was first designed as a church, but later turned into a civil temple.

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On top of the montagne Ste-Geneviève, not far from the Sorbonne University and the Jardin du Luxembourg, the Panthéon looks over the Quartier Latin. As far back as 507, this site was chosen by King Clovis - the first Frankish Merovingian King - for a basilica to serve as a tomb for him and his wife Clothilde. In 512 Sainte-Geneviève, patroness of Paris was buried here.

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Conception

When King Louis XV suffered from a serious illness in 1744 he vowed to build a church dedicated to Sainte-Geneviève if he would survive. After he recovered, he entrusted the Marquis of Marigny with the task of building the church, which was to replace the sixth-century basilica, at the time known as the Abbey Sainte-Geneviève.

The portico

In 1755, the Marquis commissioned architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot to design a new, great church.

Construction

Construction of the imposing building started in 1757. Mainly due to financial problems, it would take 34 years until the project was completed. After Soufflot's death in 1780, his associate Guillaume Rondelet took charge of the project. The building was finished in 1791, in the midst of the French Revolution.

That same year, the ConstituentAssembly of the Revolution decided by decree to transform the church into a temple to accommodate the remains of the great men of France. The building was adapted by architect Quatremère de Quincy to its new function as a pantheon.

In 1806 the building was turned into a church again, but since 1885 the Panthéon serves as a civic building.

The Building

The floorplan shows a Greek-cross layout, 110m long and 85m wide (361 x 279 ft). The large dome reaches a height of 83m (279ft). The portico, with large Corinthian columns was modeled after the second century Pantheon in Rome.

The dome features three superimposed shells, similar to the St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Iron reinforcements were added to strengthen the structure even more.

The Crypt

The large crypt, covering the whole surface of the building accommodates the vaults of great French public figures. Some of the most famous buried here are Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Jean Monnet, Marie and Pierre Curie and Emile Zola.

Foucault's Pendulum

The Panthéon was also the place where, in 1851, the astronomer Jean Bernard Léon Foucault first held his famous experiment, proving that the world spins around its axis. The Foucault pendulum moved in 1851 to the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers (3e arr).

In 1995, it temporarily moved back to the Panthéon due to construction works at the Conservatoire.

Views

From the colonnade around the building's dome, you have an excellent view over Paris. For safety issues you can only go up there in company of a (free) guide at regular hours. The Panthéon itself is best seen coming from the Jardin du Luxembourg through the rue Soufflot.

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