1.
Paris
–
Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
Paris
–
In the 1860s Paris streets and monuments were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, making it literally "The City of Light."
Paris
Paris
–
Gold coins minted by the Parisii (1st century BC)
Paris
–
The
Palais de la Cité and
Sainte-Chapelle, viewed from the Left Bank, from the
Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry (month of June) (1410)
2.
France
–
France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
France
–
One of the
Lascaux paintings: a horse –
Dordogne, approximately 18,000 BC
France
–
Flag
France
–
The
Maison Carrée was a temple of the
Gallo-Roman city of Nemausus (present-day
Nîmes) and is one of the best preserved vestiges of the
Roman Empire.
France
–
With
Clovis ' conversion to Catholicism in 498, the
Frankish monarchy,
elective and
secular until then, became
hereditary and of
divine right.
3.
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
–
The Place du Carrousel is a public square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, located at the open end of the courtyard of the Louvre Palace, a space occupied, prior to 1883, by the Tuileries Palace. Sitting directly between the museum and the Tuileries Garden, the Place du Carrousel delineates the end of the gardens just as the Place de la Concorde defines its western end. The name carrousel refers to a type of military dressage, an equine demonstration now commonly called military drill, the Place du Carrousel was named in 1662, when it was used for such a display by Louis XIV. The king and queen were installed in the Tuileries Palace under surveillance, during this time, there were many plots designed to help members of the royal family escape from France. The queen rejected several because she would not leave without the king, other opportunities to rescue the family were ultimately frittered away by the indecisive king. After many delays, the escape occurred on 21 June 1791. An hour and a later, the palace was invaded by the mob. They massacred the Swiss Guards, who fought with blind dedication and desperation, some seven hundred were killed, and their bloodied bodies decorated the yard in front of the palace, in the gardens of the palace, and along the banks of the Seine. On 13 August, the family was imprisoned in the tower of the Temple in the Le Marais district. On 21 August 1792, the guillotine was erected in the Place du Carrousel, in total, thirty-five people were guillotined there. On 2 August 1793, at the site of the guillotine. It bore an inscription, To the spirit of the late Marat,13 July, from his underground tomb, he still makes the traitors tremble. A treacherous hand thwarted the affections of the people, there was also an exhibit of the famous hip bath of Marat and his desk where some of his most impassioned polemics were drafted. These items stayed in place until 9 Thermidor Year II, during the revolution of 1848, the Tuileries Palace was looted and severely damaged by rioters. The fire lasted for hours and entirely consumed the palace. The ruins of the Tuileries stood on the site for eleven years, in 1882, the French National Assembly voted for the demolition of the ruins, and, despite much contrary sentiment, this was accomplished in 1883. The salvageable remains of the building were sold to a private entrepreneur, once the palace had been cleared away, the ground, which had been known as the Place du Carrousel since 1662, could, once again, be used as a public square. It is an arch that was commissioned in 1806 to commemorate Napoleons military victories of the previous year
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
–
Place du Carrousel from the southern wing of the
Louvre Palace. The
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel is on the left
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
–
A construction in the Place du Carrousel at the time, in 1745, of the marriage of Louis,
Dauphin of France. Note the Tuileries Palace in the background.
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
–
The
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel.
4.
Obelisk
–
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. These were originally called tekhenu by their builders, the Ancient Egyptians, the Greeks who saw them used the Greek obeliskos to describe them, and this word passed into Latin and ultimately English. Ancient obelisks are monolithic, that is, they consist of a single stone, though this technological capacity exists today, most modern obelisks are made of several stones, some, like the Washington Monument, are buildings. The term stele is used for other monumental, upright. Obelisks were prominent in the architecture of the ancient Egyptians, who placed them in pairs at the entrance of temples. The word obelisk as used in English today is of Greek rather than Egyptian origin because Herodotus, a number of ancient Egyptian obelisks are known to have survived, plus the Unfinished Obelisk found partly hewn from its quarry at Aswan. These obelisks are now dispersed around the world, and fewer than half of them remain in Egypt, the earliest temple obelisk still in its original position is the 68-foot 120-metric-ton red granite Obelisk of Senusret I of the XIIth Dynasty at Al-Matariyyah in modern Heliopolis. The obelisk symbolized the sun god Ra, and during the religious reformation of Akhenaten was said to be a petrified ray of the Aten. It was also thought that the god existed within the structure, Benben was the mound that arose from the primordial waters Nu upon which the creator god Atum settled in the creation story of the Heliopolitan creation myth form of Ancient Egyptian religion. The Benben stone is the top stone of the Egyptian pyramid and it is also related to the Obelisk. The pyramid and obelisk might have inspired by previously overlooked astronomical phenomena connected with sunrise and sunset. The Ancient Romans were strongly influenced by the form, to the extent that there are now more than twice as many obelisks standing in Rome as remain in Egypt. All fell after the Roman period except for the Vatican obelisk and were re-erected in different locations. The largest standing and tallest Egyptian obelisk is the Lateran Obelisk in the square at the west side of the Lateran Basilica in Rome at 105.6 feet tall, not all the Egyptian obelisks in the Roman Empire were set up at Rome. Herod the Great imitated his Roman patrons and set up a red granite Egyptian obelisk in the hippodrome of his new city Caesarea in northern Judea and this one is about 40 feet tall and weighs about 100 metric tons. It was discovered by archaeologists and has been re-erected at its former site and this one stood 95 feet tall and weighing 380 metric tons. Its lower half reputedly also once stood in Istanbul but is now lost, the Istanbul obelisk is 65 feet tall. Rome is the capital of the world
Obelisk
–
One of the two
Luxor obelisks in the
Place de la Concorde in
Paris; a red granite
monolithic column, 23 metres (75 ft) high, including the base, which weighs over 250 metric tons (280 short tons).
Obelisk
–
Pylon of the Temple of Luxor with the remaining obelisk (of two) in front (the second is in the Place de la Concorde in Paris).
Obelisk
–
Obelisk of Pharaoh
Senusret I, Al-Maalla area of
Al-Matariyyah district in
modern Heliopolis.
Obelisk
–
Tip of Hatshepsut's fallen obelisk,
Karnak Temple Complex,
Luxor,
Egypt
5.
Place de la Concorde
–
The Place de la Concorde is one of the major public squares in Paris, France. Measuring 8.64 hectares in area, it is the largest square in the French capital and it is located in the citys eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. The place was designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel in 1755 as a moat-skirted octagon between the Champs-Elysées to the west and the Tuileries Garden to the east, decorated with statues and fountains, the area was named Place Louis XV to honor the king at that time. At the north end, two magnificent identical stone buildings were constructed, separated by the rue Royale, these structures remain among the best examples of Louis Quinze style architecture. Initially, the building served as the French Naval Ministry. Shortly after its construction, the building became the opulent home of the Duc dAumont. It was later purchased by the Comte de Crillon, whose family resided there until 1907, the famous luxury Hôtel de Crillon, which currently occupies the building, took its name from its previous owners. During the French Revolution the statue of Louis XV of France was torn down, the new revolutionary government erected the guillotine in the square, and it was here that King Louis XVI was executed on 21 January 1793. In 1795, under the Directory, the square was renamed Place de la Concorde as a gesture of reconciliation after the turmoil of the French Revolution. After the Bourbon Restoration of 1814, the name was changed back to Place Louis XV, after the July Revolution of 1830 the name was returned to Place de la Concorde and has remained that way since. To the west of the Place is the famous Champs-Élysées, to the east of the Place are the Tuileries Gardens. The Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume and the Musée de lOrangerie, the eastern one houses the French Naval Ministry, and the western one is the Hôtel de Crillon. The Rue Royale leads to the de la Madeleine. The center of the Place is occupied by a giant Egyptian obelisk decorated with hieroglyphics exalting the reign of the pharaoh Ramesses II and it is one of two the Egyptian government gave to the French in the 19th century. The other one stayed in Egypt, too difficult and heavy to move to France with the technology at that time, in the 1990s, President François Mitterrand gave the second obelisk back to the Egyptians. The obelisk once marked the entrance to the Luxor Temple, the self-declared Khedive of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha, offered the 3, 300-year-old Luxor Obelisk to France in 1829. It arrived in Paris on 21 December 1833, three years later, on 25 October 1836, King Louis Philippe had it placed in the center of Place de la Concorde. The obelisk, a granite column, rises 23 metres high, including the base
Place de la Concorde
–
Place de la Concorde as seen from the Eiffel Tower
Place de la Concorde
–
Place de la Concorde
Place de la Concorde
–
The old plaque, for "Place Louis XVI", and replacement plaque at the corner of
Hôtel de Crillon.
Place de la Concorde
–
The Fountain of River Commerce and Navigation, one of the two
Fontaines de la Concorde (1840) on the Place de la Concorde. Behind: the Hôtel de Crillon; to the left: the embassy of the United States.
6.
Grande Arche
–
La Grande Arche de la Défense is a monument and building in the business district of La Défense and in the commune of Puteaux, to the west of Paris, France. It is usually known as the Arche de la Défense or simply as La Grande Arche, a great national design competition was launched in 1982 as the initiative of French president François Mitterrand. The construction of the monument began in 1985, spreckelsen resigned in July 1986 and ratified the transfer of all his architectural responsibilities to his associate, French architect Paul Andreu. Reitzel continued his work until the monument was completed in 1989, the Arche is in the approximate shape of a cube, it has been suggested that the structure looks like a hypercube projected onto the three-dimensional world. It has a concrete frame covered with glass and Carrara marble from Italy and was built by the French civil engineering company Bouygues. La Grande Arche was inaugurated in July 1989, with military parades that marked the bicentennial of the French Revolution. It completed the line of monuments that forms the Axe historique running through Paris, the Arche is turned at an angle of 6. 33° about the vertical axis. In addition, from a point of view, the turn emphasizes the depth of the monument and is similar to the turn of the Louvre at the other end of the Axe historique. La Voie Royale, a short film of June 2015 by director Larbi Chikh. In reality, this would require a turn of 0. 1°, in addition, the Arche is placed so that it forms a secondary axe with the two highest buildings in Paris, the Tour Eiffel and the Tour Montparnasse. The two sides of the Arche house government offices, the roof section was an exhibition centre, housing the Musée de lInformatique. The roof, when it was open to the public, was popular for its views of Paris. Access to the roof is possible via the elevators in the north and south walls. A reopening is planned for May 2017, list of tallest buildings and structures in the Paris region François Chaslin et Virginie Picon-Lefebvre, La Grande Arche de La Défense Electa-Moniteur,1989 Erik Reitzel Le Cube ouvert. Structures and foundations International conference on tall buildings, ISBN9971840421 Erik Reitzel Les forces dont resultent quelques monuments Parisiens de la Fin du XXe siècle Le pouvoir et la ville à lépoque moderne et contemporaine, Sorbonne 2001. ISBN2747526100 Grande Arche Satellite image from Google Maps Panorama during a storm Grande Arche ERI. dk Grande Arche pictures in Art Days
Grande Arche
–
La Grande Arche de la Défense
Grande Arche
–
Grande Arche at night
Grande Arche
–
View of the Arc de Triomphe from the Grande Arche
Grande Arche
–
Christmas decoration at the Grand Arche
7.
Palace of the Tuileries
–
The Tuileries Palace was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine. It was the usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henry IV to Napoleon III, built in 1564, it was gradually extended until it closed off the western end of the Louvre courtyard and displayed an immense façade of 266 metres. After the accidental death of Henry II of France in 1559 and she sold the medieval Hôtel des Tournelles, where her husband had died, and began building the palace of Tuileries in 1564, using architect Philibert de lOrme. The name derives from the tile kilns or tuileries which had occupied the site. The palace was formed by a range of long, narrow buildings. During the reign of Henry IV, the building was enlarged to the south, so it joined the long gallery, the Grande Galerie. During the reign of Louis XIV major changes were made to the Tuileries Palace, from 1659 to 1661 it was extended to the north by the addition of the Théâtre des Tuileries. From 1664 to 1666 the architect Louis Le Vau and his assistant François dOrbay made other significant changes, a new grand staircase was installed in the entrance of the north wing of the palace, and lavishly decorated royal apartments were constructed in the south wing. The kings rooms were on the floor, facing toward the Louvre. At the same time, Louis gardener, André Le Nôtre, the Court moved into the Tuileries Palace in November 1667, but left in 1672, and soon thereafter went to the Palace of Versailles. The Tuileries Palace was virtually abandoned and used only as a theatre, the boy-king Louis XV was moved from Versailles to the Tuileries Palace on 1 January 1716, four months after ascending to the throne. He moved back to Versailles on 15 June 1722, three months before his coronation, both moves were made at the behest of the Regent, the duc dOrléans. The king also resided at the Tuileries for short periods during the 1740s, on 6 October 1789, during the French Revolution, Louis XVI and his family were forced to leave Versailles and brought to the Tuileries where they were kept under surveillance. For the next two years the palace remained the residence of the king. The Tuileries covered riding ring, the Salle du Manège, home to the royal equestrian academy, the royal family tried to escape after dark, on 20 June 1791, but were captured at Varennes and brought back to the Tuileries. The Paris National Guard defended the King, but the daughter of King Louis XVI claimed that many of the guard were already in favor of the revolution, in November 1792, the Armoire de fer incident took place at the Tuileries palace. This was the discovery of a place at the royal apartments. The incident created a scandal that served to discredit the King
Palace of the Tuileries
–
The Tuileries Palace and the
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel circa 1860. The
Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile can be seen in the background.
Palace of the Tuileries
–
The Tuileries Palace in the 1600s
Palace of the Tuileries
–
The old medieval Louvre (background) and the Tuileries (foreground) linked by the Grande Galerie along the River Seine, in 1615
Palace of the Tuileries
–
The Tuileries Palace and the
Louvre on the 1739
Turgot map of Paris, during the reign of
Louis XV
8.
Tuileries Gardens
–
The Tuileries Garden is a public garden located between the Louvre Museum and the Place de la Concorde in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. Created by Catherine de Medici as the garden of the Tuileries Palace in 1564, it was opened to the public in 1667. In the 19th and 20th centuries, it was the place where Parisians celebrated, met, strolled and she decided that she would build a new palace there for herself, separate from the Louvre, with a garden modeled after the gardens of her native Florence. At the time there was an empty area bordered by the Seine on the south, the rue Saint-Honoré on the north, the Louvre on the east, since the 13th century this area was occupied by workshops, called tuileries, making tiles for the roofs of buildings. Some of land had been acquired early in the 16th century by King Francois I, Catherine acquired more land and began to build a new palace and garden on the site. The garden of Catherine de Medicis was a space five hundred metres long. The Tuileries was the largest and most beautiful garden in Paris at the time, Catherine used it for lavish royal festivities honoring ambassadors from Queen Elizabeth I of England and the marriage of her daughter, Marguerite de Valois, to the future Henry IV. King Henry III was forced to flee Paris in 1588, and he also built a rectangular basin 65 metres by 45 metres with a fountain supplied with water by the new pump called La Samaritaine, which had been built in 1608 on the Pont Neuf. The area between the palace and the moat of Charles V was turned into the New Garden with a large fountain in the center. Though Henry IV never lived in the Tuilieries Palace, which was continually under reconstruction, he did use the gardens for relaxation, in 1610, at the death of his father, Louis XIII, age nine became the new owner of the Tuileries Gardens. It became his enormous playground - he used it for hunting, on the north side of the gardens, Marie de Medicis established a school of riding, stables, and a covered manege for exercising horses. When the King and court were absent from Paris, the gardens were turned into a spot for the nobility. In 1630 a former rabbit warren and kennel at the west rampart of the garden were made into a flower-lined promenade, in 1652 La Grande Mademoiselle was expelled from the chateau and garden for having supported an uprising, the Fronde, against her cousin, the young Louis XIV. The new king quickly imposed his own sense of order on the Tuileries Gardens and his architects, Louis Le Vau and Francois dOrbay, finally finished the Tuileries Palace, making a proper royal residence. Thereafter the square was known as the Place du Carrousel, in 1664, Colbert, the superintendent of buildings of the King, commissioned the landscape architect André Le Nôtre, to redesign the entire garden. Le Nôtre was the grandson of Pierre Le Nôtre, one of the gardeners of Catherine De Medici, Le Nôtres were designed to be seen from above, from a building or terrace. He eliminated the street which separated the palace and the garden, in the centre of the parterres he placed three basins with fountains. In front of the center first fountain he laid out the grand allée and he built two other alleys, lined with chestnut trees, on either side
Tuileries Gardens
–
The Tuileries Garden, looking from the large round basin toward the
Place de la Concorde and
Arc de Triomphe
Tuileries Gardens
–
The Tuileries Garden seen from the west- the Fer à cheval (horseshoe), Grand Bassin Octagonal, and the Grande Allée ending at the Louvre
Tuileries Gardens
–
The gardens in 1576, engraving by
Jacques I Androuet du Cerceau. (The engraving also includes a plan for the expansion of the palace which was never executed.)
Tuileries Gardens
–
The Tuileries Garden in 1615, where the Grand Basin is now located. The covered promenade can be seen, and the riding school established by Catherine.
9.
Paris Commune
–
The Paris Commune was a radical socialist and revolutionary government that ruled Paris from 18 March to 28 May 1871. Following the defeat of Emperor Napoleon III in September 1870, the French Second Empire swiftly collapsed, in its stead rose a Third Republic at war with Prussia, which laid siege to Paris for four months. A hotbed of radicalism, Frances capital was primarily defended during this time by the often politicized. In February 1871 Adolphe Thiers, the new executive of the French national government, signed an armistice with Prussia that disarmed the Army. Soldiers of the Communes National Guard killed two French army generals, and the Commune refused to accept the authority of the French government, the regular French Army suppressed the Commune during La semaine sanglante beginning on 21 May 1871. Debates over the policies and outcome of the Commune had significant influence on the ideas of Karl Marx, on 2 September 1870, after Frances unexpected defeat at the Battle of Sedan in the Franco-Prussian War, Emperor Napoleon III surrendered to the Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. When the news reached Paris the next day, shocked and angry crowds came out into the streets, Empress Eugénie de Montijo, the Emperors regent, fled the city, and the Government of the Second Empire swiftly collapsed. Republican and radical deputies of the National Assembly went to the Hôtel de Ville, proclaimed the new French Republic, though the Emperor and the French Army had been defeated at Sedan, the war continued. The German army marched swiftly toward Paris, in Paris, however, the republican candidates dominated, winning 234,000 votes against 77,000 for the Bonapartists. Only about 40,000 were employed in factories and large enterprises, most were employed in industries in textiles, furniture. There were also 115,000 servants and 45,000 concierges, in addition to the native French population, there were about 100,000 immigrant workers and political refugees, the largest number being from Italy and Poland. The working class and immigrants suffered the most from the lack of activity due to the war. The Commune resulted in part from growing discontent among the Paris workers and this discontent can be traced to the first worker uprisings, the Canut Revolts, in Lyon and Paris in the 1830s. Many Parisians, especially workers and the classes, supported a democratic republic. They also wanted a more just way of managing the economy, if not necessarily socialist, socialist movements, such as the First International, had been growing in influence with hundreds of societies affiliated to it across France. In early 1867, Parisian employers of bronze-workers attempted to de-unionize their workers and this was defeated by a strike organized by the International. Later in 1867, a public demonstration in Paris was answered by the legal dissolution of its executive committee. The International had considerable influence even among unaffiliated French workers, particularly in Paris, the killing of journalist Victor Noir incensed Parisians, and the arrests of journalists critical of the Emperor did nothing to quiet the city
Paris Commune
–
A barricade on Rue Voltaire, after its capture by the regular army during the Bloody Week
Paris Commune
–
Louis Auguste Blanqui, leader of the Commune's far-left faction, was imprisoned for the entire time of the Commune.
Paris Commune
–
Eugène Varlin led several thousand National Guard soldiers to march to the Hotel de Ville chanting 'Long Live the Commune!".
Paris Commune
–
Revolutionary units of the National Guard briefly seized the Hotel de Ville on 31 October 1870, but the uprising failed.
10.
Louis XV of France
–
Louis XV, known as Louis the Beloved, was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five, Cardinal Fleury was his chief minister from 1726 until the Cardinals death in 1743, at which time the young king took sole control of the kingdom. During his reign, Louis returned the Austrian Netherlands, territory won at the Battle of Fontenoy of 1745, Louis also ceded New France in North America to Spain and Great Britain at the conclusion of the Seven Years War in 1763. He incorporated the territories of Lorraine and Corsica into the kingdom of France and he was succeeded by his grandson Louis XVI in 1774. French culture and influence were at their height in the first half of the eighteenth century, however, many scholars believe that Louis XVs decisions damaged the power of France, weakened the treasury, discredited the absolute monarchy, and made it more vulnerable to distrust and destruction. Evidence for this view is provided by the French Revolution, which broke out 15 years after his death, norman Davies characterized Louis XVs reign as one of debilitating stagnation, characterized by lost wars, endless clashes between the Court and Parliament, and religious feuds. A few scholars defend Louis, arguing that his negative reputation was based on propaganda meant to justify the French Revolution. Jerome Blum described him as a perpetual adolescent called to do a mans job, Louis XV was born in the Palace of Versailles on 15 February 1710 during the reign of Louis XIV. His grandfather, Louis Le Grand Dauphin, had three sons with his wife Marie Anne Victoire of Bavaria, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, and Charles, Duke of Berry. Louis XV was the son of the Duke of Burgundy and his wife Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, the eldest daughter of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy. At birth, Louis XV received a title for younger sons of the French royal family. In April 1711, Louis Le Grand Dauphin suddenly died, making Louis XVs father, the Duke of Burgundy, at that time, Burgundy had two living sons, Louis, Duke of Brittany and his youngest son, the future Louis XV. A year later, Marie Adélaïde, Duchess of Burgundy, contracted smallpox and her husband, said to be heartbroken by her death, died the same week, also having contracted smallpox. Within a week of his death, it was clear that the two children had also been infected. The elder son was treated by bloodletting in an unsuccessful effort to save him. Fearing that the Dauphin would die, the Court had both the Dauphin and the Duke of Anjou baptised, the Dauphin died the same day,8 March 1712. His younger brother, the Duke of Anjou, was treated by his governess, Madame de Ventadour. The two year old Dauphin survived the smallpox, on 1 September 1715, Louis XIV died of gangrene, having reigned for 72 years
Louis XV of France
–
Louis XV by
Hyacinthe Rigaud (1730)
Louis XV of France
–
Signature
Louis XV of France
–
The duke of Brittany with his father Louis, Duke of Burgundy, his grandfather Louis, Le Grand Dauphin and his great-grandfather King Louis XIV in 1709. The future Louis XV, not yet born, is not on the painting.
Louis XV of France
–
Two
Louis d'or, 1717, depicting a very young Louis XV
11.
Place du Carrousel
–
The Place du Carrousel is a public square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, located at the open end of the courtyard of the Louvre Palace, a space occupied, prior to 1883, by the Tuileries Palace. Sitting directly between the museum and the Tuileries Garden, the Place du Carrousel delineates the end of the gardens just as the Place de la Concorde defines its western end. The name carrousel refers to a type of military dressage, an equine demonstration now commonly called military drill, the Place du Carrousel was named in 1662, when it was used for such a display by Louis XIV. The king and queen were installed in the Tuileries Palace under surveillance, during this time, there were many plots designed to help members of the royal family escape from France. The queen rejected several because she would not leave without the king, other opportunities to rescue the family were ultimately frittered away by the indecisive king. After many delays, the escape occurred on 21 June 1791. An hour and a later, the palace was invaded by the mob. They massacred the Swiss Guards, who fought with blind dedication and desperation, some seven hundred were killed, and their bloodied bodies decorated the yard in front of the palace, in the gardens of the palace, and along the banks of the Seine. On 13 August, the family was imprisoned in the tower of the Temple in the Le Marais district. On 21 August 1792, the guillotine was erected in the Place du Carrousel, in total, thirty-five people were guillotined there. On 2 August 1793, at the site of the guillotine. It bore an inscription, To the spirit of the late Marat,13 July, from his underground tomb, he still makes the traitors tremble. A treacherous hand thwarted the affections of the people, there was also an exhibit of the famous hip bath of Marat and his desk where some of his most impassioned polemics were drafted. These items stayed in place until 9 Thermidor Year II, during the revolution of 1848, the Tuileries Palace was looted and severely damaged by rioters. The fire lasted for hours and entirely consumed the palace. The ruins of the Tuileries stood on the site for eleven years, in 1882, the French National Assembly voted for the demolition of the ruins, and, despite much contrary sentiment, this was accomplished in 1883. The salvageable remains of the building were sold to a private entrepreneur, once the palace had been cleared away, the ground, which had been known as the Place du Carrousel since 1662, could, once again, be used as a public square. It is an arch that was commissioned in 1806 to commemorate Napoleons military victories of the previous year
Place du Carrousel
–
Place du Carrousel from the southern wing of the
Louvre Palace. The
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel is on the left
Place du Carrousel
–
A construction in the Place du Carrousel at the time, in 1745, of the marriage of Louis,
Dauphin of France. Note the Tuileries Palace in the background.
Place du Carrousel
–
The
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel.
12.
Palais du Louvre
–
The Louvre Palace is a former royal palace located on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, between the Tuileries Gardens and the church of Saint-Germain lAuxerrois. Its present structure has evolved in stages since the 16th century, in 1793 part of the Louvre became a public museum, now the Musée du Louvre, which has expanded to occupy most of the building. The Palace is situated in the right-bank of the River Seine between Rue de Rivoli to the north and the Quai François Mitterrand to the south. To the west is the Jardin des Tuileries and, to the east, the Rue de lAmiral de Coligny, where its most architecturally famous façade, the Louvre Colonnade, the Cour Napoléon and Cour du Carrousel are separated by the street known as the Place du Carrousel. Some 51,615 sq m in the complex are devoted to public exhibition floor space. The Old Louvre occupies the site of the 12th-century fortress of King Philip Augustus and its foundations are viewable in the basement level as the Medieval Louvre department. This structure was razed in 1546 by King Francis I in favour of a royal residence which was added to by almost every subsequent French monarch. King Louis XIV, who resided at the Louvre until his departure for Versailles in 1678, completed the Cour Carrée, the Old Louvre is a quadrilateral approximately 160 m on a side consisting of 8 ailes which are articulated by 8 pavillons. With it, the last external vestiges of the medieval Louvre were demolished, the New Louvre is the name often given to the wings and pavilions extending the Palace for about 500 m westwards on the north and on the south sides of the Cour Napoléon and Cour du Carrousel. This consummation only lasted a few years, however, as the Tuileries was burned in 1871, the northern limb of the new Louvre consists of three great pavilions along the Rue de Rivoli, the Pavillon de la Bibliothèque, Pavillon de Rohan and Pavillon de Marsan. As on the side, three inside pavilions and their wings define three more subsidiary Courts, Cour du Sphinx, Cour Viconti and Cour Lefuel. The Chinese American architect I. M. Pei was selected in 1983 to design François Mitterrands Grand Louvre Project. The ground-level entrance to this complex was situated in the centre of the Cour Napoléon and is crowned by the prominent steel-and-glass pyramid, in a proposal by Kenneth Carbone, the nomenclature of the wings of the Louvre was simplified in 1987 to reflect the Grand Louvres organization. This allows the visitor to avoid becoming totally mystified at the bewildering array of named wings. The origin of the name Louvre is unclear, the French historian Henri Sauval, probably writing in the 1660s, stated that he had seen in an old Latin-Saxon glossary, Leouar is translated castle and thus took Leouar to be the origin of Louvre. According to Keith Briggs, Sauvals theory is often repeated, even in recent books, but this glossary has never seen again. Briggs suggests that H. J. Wolfs proposal in 1969 that Louvre derives instead from Latin Rubras, david Hanser, on the other hand, reports that the word may come from French louveterie, a place where dogs were trained to chase wolves. In 1190 King Philip II Augustus, who was about to leave on the Third Crusade, completed in 1202, the new fortress was situated in what is now the southwest quadrant of the Cour Carrée
Palais du Louvre
–
Night view of the
Louvre Pyramid in the centre of the Napoleon Courtyard of the Palais du Louvre
Palais du Louvre
–
Aerial view of the Louvre Palace
Palais du Louvre
–
The Cour Carrée of the "Old Louvre" looking west (Left to right: Aile Lescot, Pavillon Sully (de l'Horloge), Aile Lemercier)
Palais du Louvre
–
The Louvre Palace looking west across the Cour Napoleon and the
Louvre Pyramid
13.
Arc de Triomphe
–
The Arc de Triomphe should not be confused with a smaller arch, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, which stands west of the Louvre. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I and it set the tone for public monuments with triumphant patriotic messages. Inspired by the Roman Arch of Titus, the Arc de Triomphe has an height of 50 metres, width of 45 m. The smaller transverse vaults are 18.68 m high and 8.44 m wide, three weeks after the Paris victory parade in 1919, Charles Godefroy flew his Nieuport biplane under the archs primary vault, with the event captured on newsreel. Pariss Arc de Triomphe was the tallest triumphal arch until the completion of the Monumento a la Revolución in Mexico City in 1938, the Arch of Triumph in Pyongyang, completed in 1982, is modelled on the Arc de Triomphe and is slightly taller at 60 m. The Arc is located on the bank of the Seine at the centre of a dodecagonal configuration of twelve radiating avenues. It was commissioned in 1806 after the victory at Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon at the peak of his fortunes, the architect, Jean Chalgrin, died in 1811 and the work was taken over by Jean-Nicolas Huyot. On 15 December 1840, brought back to France from Saint Helena, prior to burial in the Panthéon, the body of Victor Hugo was displayed under the Arc during the night of 22 May 1885. The sword carried by the Republic in the Marseillaise relief broke off on the day, it is said, the relief was immediately hidden by tarpaulins to conceal the accident and avoid any undesired ominous interpretations. On 7 August 1919, Charles Godefroy successfully flew his biplane under the Arc, Jean Navarre was the pilot who was tasked to make the flight, but he died on 10 July 1919 when he crashed near Villacoublay while training for the flight. Following its construction, the Arc de Triomphe became the point of French troops parading after successful military campaigns. Famous victory marches around or under the Arc have included the Germans in 1871, the French in 1919, the Germans in 1940, and the French and Allies in 1944 and 1945. A United States postage stamp of 1945 shows the Arc de Triomphe in the background as victorious American troops march down the Champs-Élysées, after the interment of the Unknown Soldier, however, all military parades have avoided marching through the actual arch. The route taken is up to the arch and then around its side, out of respect for the tomb, both Hitler in 1940 and de Gaulle in 1944 observed this custom. By the early 1960s, the monument had grown very blackened from coal soot and automobile exhaust, and during 1965–1966 it was cleaned through bleaching. In the prolongation of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, a new arch, after the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and the Arc de Triomphe de lÉtoile, the Grande Arche is the third arch built on the same perspective. In 1995, the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria placed a bomb near the Arc de Triomphe which wounded 17 people as part of a campaign of bombings, the astylar design is by Jean Chalgrin, in the Neoclassical version of ancient Roman architecture. Major academic sculptors of France are represented in the sculpture of the Arc de Triomphe, Jean-Pierre Cortot, François Rude, Antoine Étex, James Pradier and Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire
Arc de Triomphe
–
The Arc de Triomphe from the Champs-Élysées
Arc de Triomphe
–
A colourised aerial photograph of the southern side (published in 1921)
Arc de Triomphe
–
Free French forces on parade after the
liberation of Paris (1944)
Arc de Triomphe
–
Avenues radiate from the Arc de Triomphe in
Place Charles de Gaulle, the former Place de l'Étoile.
14.
Louis XIV
–
Louis XIV, known as Louis the Great or the Sun King, was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any monarch of a country in European history. In the age of absolutism in Europe, Louis XIVs France was a leader in the centralization of power. Louis began his rule of France in 1661, after the death of his chief minister. By these means he became one of the most powerful French monarchs, under his rule, the Edict of Nantes, which granted rights to Huguenots, was abolished. The revocation effectively forced Huguenots to emigrate or convert in a wave of dragonnades, which managed to virtually destroy the French Protestant minority. During Louis reign, France was the leading European power, and it fought three wars, the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg. There were also two lesser conflicts, the War of Devolution and the War of the Reunions, warfare defined Louis XIVs foreign policies, and his personality shaped his approach. Impelled by a mix of commerce, revenge, and pique, in peacetime he concentrated on preparing for the next war. He taught his diplomats their job was to create tactical and strategic advantages for the French military, Louis XIV was born on 5 September 1638 in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. He was named Louis Dieudonné and bore the title of French heirs apparent. At the time of his birth, his parents had married for 23 years. His mother had experienced four stillbirths between 1619 and 1631, leading contemporaries thus regarded him as a divine gift and his birth a miracle of God. Sensing imminent death, Louis XIII decided to put his affairs in order in the spring of 1643, in defiance of custom, which would have made Queen Anne the sole Regent of France, the king decreed that a regency council would rule on his sons behalf. His lack of faith in Queen Annes political abilities was his primary rationale and he did, however, make the concession of appointing her head of the council. Louis relationship with his mother was uncommonly affectionate for the time, contemporaries and eyewitnesses claimed that the Queen would spend all her time with Louis. Both were greatly interested in food and theatre, and it is likely that Louis developed these interests through his close relationship with his mother. This long-lasting and loving relationship can be evidenced by excerpts in Louis journal entries, such as, but attachments formed later by shared qualities of the spirit are far more difficult to break than those formed merely by blood
Louis XIV
–
Louis XIV by
Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701)
Louis XIV
–
Louis-Dieudonné,
Dauphin of France, in 1643 by
Claude Deruet
Louis XIV
–
Louis XIV as a child, unknown painter
Louis XIV
–
1655 portrait of Louis, the Victor of the Fronde, portrayed as the god
Jupiter
15.
I.M. Pei
–
Ieoh Ming Pei, FAIA, RIBA, commonly known as I. M. Pei, is a Chinese-American architect. In 1948, Pei was recruited by New York City real estate magnate William Zeckendorf, Pei retired from full-time practice in 1990. Since then, he has taken on work as an architectural consultant primarily from his sons architectural firm Pei Partnership Architects and he went on to design Dallas City Hall and the East Building of the National Gallery of Art. He returned to China for the first time in 1975 to design a hotel at Fragrant Hills, and designed Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong, a skyscraper in Hong Kong for the Bank of China fifteen years later. In the early 1980s, Pei was the focus of controversy when he designed a glass-and-steel pyramid for the Musée du Louvre in Paris. He later returned to the world of the arts by designing the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, the Miho Museum in Japan, the Suzhou Museum in Suzhou, in 1983, he won the Pritzker Prize, sometimes called the Nobel Prize of architecture. Peis ancestry traces back to the Ming Dynasty, when his family moved from Anhui province to Suzhou, finding wealth in the sale of medicinal herbs, the family stressed the importance of helping the less fortunate. Ieoh Ming Pei was born on April 26,1917 to Tsuyee Pei and Lien Kwun, the family eventually included five children. As a boy, Pei was very close to his mother and she invited him, his brothers, and his sisters to join her on meditation retreats. His relationship with his father was less intimate and their interactions were respectful but distant. Peis ancestors success meant that the family lived in the echelons of society. The younger Pei, drawn more to music and other forms than to his fathers domain of banking. I have cultivated myself, he said later, at the age of ten, Pei moved with his family to Shanghai after his father was promoted. Pei attended Saint Johns Middle School, run by Protestant missionaries, academic discipline was rigorous, students were allowed only one half-day each month for leisure. Pei enjoyed playing billiards and watching Hollywood movies, especially those of Buster Keaton and he also learned rudimentary English skills by reading the Bible and novels by Charles Dickens. Shanghais many international elements gave it the name Paris of the East, the citys global architectural flavors had a profound influence on Pei, from the Bund waterfront area to the Park Hotel, built in 1934. He was also impressed by the gardens of Suzhou, where he spent the summers with extended family and regularly visited a nearby ancestral shrine. The Shizilin Garden, built in the 14th century by a Buddhist monk, was especially influential and its unusual rock formations, stone bridges, and waterfalls remained etched in Peis memory for decades
I.M. Pei
–
in Luxembourg, 2006
I.M. Pei
–
As a child, Pei found the
Shizilin Garden in
Suzhou to be "an ideal playground".
I.M. Pei
–
Pei describes the architecture of Shanghai's
Bund waterfront area (seen here in a 2006 photo) as "very much a colonial past".
I.M. Pei
–
Pei said that "
Bing Crosby 's films in particular had a tremendous influence on my choosing the United States instead of England to pursue my education."
16.
Pyramide du Louvre
–
The Louvre Pyramid is a large glass and metal pyramid designed by Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei, surrounded by three smaller pyramids, in the main courtyard of the Louvre Palace in Paris. The large pyramid serves as the entrance to the Louvre Museum. Completed in 1989, it has become a landmark of the city of Paris, commissioned by the President of France, François Mitterrand, in 1984, it was designed by the architect I. M. Pei. The structure, which was constructed entirely with glass segments and metal poles, reaches a height of 21.6 metres and its square base has sides of 34 metres and a base surface area of 1,000 square metres. It consists of 603 rhombus-shaped and 70 triangular glass segments, the pyramid structure was engineered by Nicolet Chartrand Knoll Ltd. of Montreal and Rice Francis Ritchie of Paris. Visitors entering through the pyramid descend into the spacious lobby then re-ascend into the main Louvre buildings, for design historian Mark Pimlott, I. M. Pei’s plan distributes people effectively from the central concourse to myriad destinations within its vast subterranean network. Several other museums have duplicated this concept, most notably the Museum of Science, the Dolphin Centre, featuring a similar pyramid, was opened in April 1982, by Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester. The construction work on the base and underground lobby was carried out by the Vinci construction company. In 1839, according to one account, in ceremonies commemorating the glorious revolution of 1830, The tombs of the Louvre were covered with black hangings. In front and in the middle was erected a monument of a pyramidical shape. The construction of the pyramid triggered many years of strong and lively aesthetic, Pei being insufficiently French to be entrusted with the task of updating the treasured Parisian landmark. Meanwhile, Political critics referred to the structure as Pharaoh Francois Pyramid, while some continue to feel the harsh modernism of the edifice is out of place, others consider the juxtaposition of contrasting architectural styles a successful merger of the old and the new. During the design phase, there was a proposal that the design include a spire on the pyramid to simplify window washing, Pei objected, however, and this proposal was eliminated. It has been claimed by some that the glass panes in the Louvre Pyramid number exactly 666, the story of the 666 panes originated in the 1980s, when the official brochure published during construction did indeed cite this number. The number 666 was also mentioned in various newspapers, the Louvre museum, however, states that the finished pyramid contains 673 glass panes. A higher figure was obtained by David A. Shugarts, who reports that the pyramid contains 689 pieces of glass, Shugarts obtained the figure from the Peis offices. The side with the entrance, however, has 11 panes fewer, however, David A. Shugarts reports that according to a spokeswoman of the offices of Pei, the French President never specified the number of panes to be used in the pyramid. La Pyramide Inversée is a skylight in the Carrousel du Louvre shopping mall in front of the Louvre Museum and it looks like an upside-down and smaller version of the Louvre Pyramid
Pyramide du Louvre
–
Inside the Pyramid: the view of the Louvre Museum in Paris from the underground lobby of the Pyramid.
Pyramide du Louvre
–
The large glass pyramid seen at night
Pyramide du Louvre
–
The large glass pyramid seen by day
17.
Franco-Prussian War
–
The conflict was caused by Prussian ambitions to extend German unification and French fears of the shift in the European balance of power that would result if the Prussians succeeded. On 16 July 1870, the French parliament voted to declare war on the German Kingdom of Prussia, the German coalition mobilised its troops much more quickly than the French and rapidly invaded northeastern France. The German forces were superior in numbers, had training and leadership and made more effective use of modern technology, particularly railroads. The German states proclaimed their union as the German Empire under the Prussian king Wilhelm I, the Treaty of Frankfurt of 10 May 1871 gave Germany most of Alsace and some parts of Lorraine, which became the Imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. French determination to regain Alsace-Lorraine and fear of another Franco-German war, along with British apprehension about the balance of power, the causes of the Franco-Prussian War are deeply rooted in the events surrounding the unification of Germany. In the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Prussia had annexed numerous territories and this new power destabilized the European balance of power established by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 after the Napoleonic Wars. France was strongly opposed to any further alliance of German states, in Prussia, some officials considered a war against France both inevitable and necessary to arouse German nationalism in those states that would allow the unification of a great German empire. Bismarck also knew that France should be the aggressor in the conflict to bring the southern German states to side with Prussia, many Germans also viewed the French as the traditional destabilizer of Europe, and sought to weaken France to prevent further breaches of the peace. The immediate cause of the war resided in the candidacy of Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, France feared encirclement by an alliance between Prussia and Spain. The Hohenzollern princes candidacy was withdrawn under French diplomatic pressure, releasing the Ems Dispatch to the public, Bismarck made it sound as if the king had treated the French envoy in a demeaning fashion, which inflamed public opinion in France. They also argue that he wanted a war to resolve growing domestic political problems, other historians, notably French historian Pierre Milza, dispute this. According to Milza, the Emperor had no need for a war to increase his popularity, the Ems telegram had exactly the effect on French public opinion that Bismarck had intended. This text produced the effect of a red flag on the Gallic bull, gramont, the French foreign minister, declared that he felt he had just received a slap. Napoleons new prime minister, Emile Ollivier, declared that France had done all that it could humanly and honorably do to prevent the war, a crowd of 15–20,000 people, carrying flags and patriotic banners, marched through the streets of Paris, demanding war. On 19 July 1870 a declaration of war was sent to the Prussian government, the southern German states immediately sided with Prussia. The French Army consisted in peacetime of approximately 400,000 soldiers, some of them were veterans of previous French campaigns in the Crimean War, Algeria, the Franco-Austrian War in Italy, and in the Mexican campaign. Under Marshal Adolphe Niel, urgent reforms were made, universal conscription and a shorter period of service gave increased numbers of reservists, who would swell the army to a planned strength of 800,000 on mobilisation. Those who for any reason were not conscripted were to be enrolled in the Garde Mobile, however, the Franco-Prussian War broke out before these reforms could be completely implemented
Franco-Prussian War
–
Clockwise from top left: Prussian infantry at the
Battle of Spicheren;
Jeanniot 's 1886 La ligne de feu (
Battle of Mars-La-Tour);
Werner 's depiction of the
capitulation of Sedan;
Neuville 's 1873 Les dernières cartouches (
Battle of Bazeilles).
Franco-Prussian War
–
A French
mitrailleuse in the
Bundeswehr Military History Museum
Franco-Prussian War
–
French reservists responding to the call.
Franco-Prussian War
–
Map of German and French armies near their common border on 31 July 1870
18.
Denmark
–
Denmark, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, is a Scandinavian country in Europe and a sovereign state. The southernmost and smallest of the Nordic countries, it is south-west of Sweden and south of Norway, Denmark also comprises two autonomous constituent countries in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark has an area of 42,924 square kilometres. The country consists of a peninsula, Jutland, and an archipelago of 443 named islands, with the largest being Zealand, the islands are characterised by flat, arable land and sandy coasts, low elevation and a temperate climate. The unified kingdom of Denmark emerged in the 10th century as a proficient seafaring nation in the struggle for control of the Baltic Sea, Denmark, Sweden and Norway were ruled together under the Kalmar Union, established in 1397 and ending with Swedish secession in 1523. Denmark and Norway remained under the monarch until outside forces dissolved the union in 1814. The union with Norway made it possible for Denmark to inherit the Faroe Islands, Iceland, beginning in the 17th century, there were several cessions of territory to Sweden. In the 19th century there was a surge of nationalist movements, Denmark remained neutral during World War I. In April 1940, a German invasion saw brief military skirmishes while the Danish resistance movement was active from 1943 until the German surrender in May 1945, the Constitution of Denmark was signed on 5 June 1849, ending the absolute monarchy which had begun in 1660. It establishes a constitutional monarchy organised as a parliamentary democracy, the government and national parliament are seated in Copenhagen, the nations capital, largest city and main commercial centre. Denmark exercises hegemonic influence in the Danish Realm, devolving powers to handle internal affairs, Home rule was established in the Faroe Islands in 1948, in Greenland home rule was established in 1979 and further autonomy in 2009. Denmark became a member of the European Economic Community in 1973, maintaining certain opt-outs, it retains its own currency, the krone. It is among the members of NATO, the Nordic Council, the OECD, OSCE. The etymology of the word Denmark, and especially the relationship between Danes and Denmark and the unifying of Denmark as a kingdom, is a subject which attracts debate. This is centred primarily on the prefix Dan and whether it refers to the Dani or a historical person Dan and the exact meaning of the -mark ending. Most handbooks derive the first part of the word, and the name of the people, from a word meaning land, related to German Tenne threshing floor. The -mark is believed to mean woodland or borderland, with references to the border forests in south Schleswig. The first recorded use of the word Danmark within Denmark itself is found on the two Jelling stones, which are believed to have been erected by Gorm the Old and Harald Bluetooth
Denmark
–
The gilded side of the
Trundholm sun chariot dating from the Nordic Bronze Age.
Denmark
–
Flag
Denmark
–
The
Ladby ship, the largest ship burial found in Denmark.
Denmark
–
Larger of the two Jelling stones, raised by
Harald Bluetooth.
19.
Johann Otto von Spreckelsen
–
Johan Otto von Spreckelsen was a Danish architect, best known for designing the Grande Arche of La Défense in Paris. A modest man, he directed the creation of modern churches in Denmark. He was born in Viborg and studied at the Viborg Katedralskole and Royal Academy of Arts in Copenhagen and he was a modest man, who once in an interview declared that he was an architect who built three churches and one Arch. He relied heavily on simple geometrical figures, especially the quadrant and his design won the international competition of the Grande Arche in Paris, France, as the French President François Mitterrand felt it was the best because of its purity and strength. This work of 110 meters of height, which was inaugurated in 1989, the monument, located in the heart of the financial district of La Défense, is built of granite and of Carrara marble. Torben Weirup, Det Åbne Vindue, et essay om arkitekten Johan Otto von Spreckelsen, without place,2003, ISBN 87-985316-3-8
Johann Otto von Spreckelsen
–
The
Grande Arche in Paris - his best-known design.
Johann Otto von Spreckelsen
–
Spreckelsen' childhood home in
Viborg (photo: Lars Schmidt)
Johann Otto von Spreckelsen
–
Vangede Kirke
Johann Otto von Spreckelsen
–
Stavnsholt Kirke
20.
Tour Montparnasse
–
Tour Maine-Montparnasse, also commonly named Tour Montparnasse, is a 210-metre office skyscraper located in the Montparnasse area of Paris, France. Constructed from 1969 to 1973, it was the tallest skyscraper in France until 2011, as of March 2017, it is the 14th tallest building in the European Union. The tower was designed by architects Eugène Beaudouin, Urbain Cassan, built on top of the Montparnasse – Bienvenüe Paris Métro station, the 59 floors of the tower are mainly occupied by offices. The 56th floor, with a restaurant called le Ciel de Paris, the view covers a radius of 40 km, aircraft can be seen taking off from Orly Airport. The guard rail, to which various antennae are attached, can be pneumatically lowered, the towers simple architecture, large proportions and monolithic appearance have been often criticised for being out of place in Pariss urban landscape. As a result, two years after its completion the construction of buildings over seven stories high in the city centre was banned, the design of the tower predates architectural trends of more modern skyscrapers today that are often designed to provide a window for every office. Only the offices around the perimeter of each floor of Tour Montparnasse have windows and it is said that the view from the top is the most beautiful in Paris, because it is the only place from which the tower cannot be seen. A2008 poll of editors on Virtualtourist voted the building the second-ugliest building in the world, in 2005, studies showed that the tower contained asbestos material. When inhaled, for instance during repairs, asbestos is a carcinogen, as with the Jussieu Campus, the problem of removing the asbestos material from a large building used by thousands of people is acute. Projected completion times for removal are three years if the building is emptied for the duration of the work and ten years if the building is not emptied, the removal of asbestos began in July 2007. Previously Tour Maine-Montparnasse housed the executive management of Accor, list of tallest buildings and structures in the Paris region Official website Photos of Tour Montparnasse Tour Montparnasse Pictures and info
Tour Montparnasse
–
Tour Montparnasse
Tour Montparnasse
Tour Montparnasse
Tour Montparnasse
21.
Eiffel Tower
–
The Eiffel Tower is a wrought iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed, the Eiffel Tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world,6.91 million people ascended it in 2015. The tower is 324 metres tall, about the height as an 81-storey building. Its base is square, measuring 125 metres on each side, due to the addition of a broadcasting aerial at the top of the tower in 1957, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building by 5.2 metres. Excluding transmitters, the Eiffel Tower is the second-tallest structure in France after the Millau Viaduct, the tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants on the first and second levels. The top levels upper platform is 276 m above the ground – the highest observation deck accessible to the public in the European Union, tickets can be purchased to ascend by stairs or lift to the first and second levels. The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, although there is a staircase to the top level, it is usually only accessible by lift. Eiffel openly acknowledged that inspiration for a tower came from the Latting Observatory built in New York City in 1853, sauvestre added decorative arches to the base of the tower, a glass pavilion to the first level, and other embellishments. Little progress was made until 1886, when Jules Grévy was re-elected as president of France and Édouard Lockroy was appointed as minister for trade. On 12 May, a commission was set up to examine Eiffels scheme and its rivals, which, after some debate about the exact location of the tower, a contract was signed on 8 January 1887. Eiffel was to all income from the commercial exploitation of the tower during the exhibition. He later established a company to manage the tower, putting up half the necessary capital himself. The proposed tower had been a subject of controversy, drawing criticism from those who did not believe it was feasible and these objections were an expression of a long-standing debate in France about the relationship between architecture and engineering. And for twenty years … we shall see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the column of bolted sheet metal. Gustave Eiffel responded to criticisms by comparing his tower to the Egyptian pyramids. Will it not also be grandiose in its way, and why would something admirable in Egypt become hideous and ridiculous in Paris. Indeed, Garnier was a member of the Tower Commission that had examined the various proposals, some of the protesters changed their minds when the tower was built, others remained unconvinced. Guy de Maupassant supposedly ate lunch in the restaurant every day because it was the one place in Paris where the tower was not visible
Eiffel Tower
–
The Eiffel Tower as seen from the
Champ de Mars
Eiffel Tower
–
First drawing of the Eiffel Tower by Maurice Koechlin including size comparison with other Parisian landmarks such as
Notre Dame de Paris, the
Statue of Liberty and the
Vendôme Column
Eiffel Tower
–
A
calligram by
Guillaume Apollinaire
22.
Nanterre
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Nanterre is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 11.1 km north-west of the centre of Paris, Nanterre is the capital of the Hauts-de-Seine department as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of Nanterre. The city of Nanterre also includes the Paris West University Nanterre La Défense, the name of Nanterre originated before the Roman conquest of Gaul. The Romans recorded the name as Nemetodorum and it is composed of the Celtic word nemeto meaning shrine or sacred place and the Celtic word duron hard, tough, enduring. The sacred place referred to is supposed to have been a shrine that existed in antiquity. Inhabitants of Nanterre are called Nanterriennes and Nanterriens, the sacred shrine of antiquity that is referred to etymologically had been placed by tradition in Mont-Valérien. Lutetia is mentioned by Julius Caesar in 50 BCE, reporting an assembly in Lutetia in 53 BC between himself, commander of the Roman Legions, and local Gallic leaders. Although this had been thought to possibly be Île de la Cité, largely since Caesar mentions an island, in 52 BC, the Parisii took up arms with the Gallic war leader Vercingetorix, and were defeated by Titus Labienus, one of Caesars legates. Caesar mentions in his Commentarii that the Parisii destroyed the bridges, the archeological work in Nanterre has suggested over 15 hectares of pre-Roman or Roman era construction. These archeologic findings may be an indication that Nanterre was the closest pre-Roman settlement to the Citys modern centre, sainte Genevieve, patron saint of Paris, was born in Nanterre ca. On 27 March 2002, Richard Durn, a local activist, shot. Nanterre is divided into three cantons, Nanterre-Nord canton has a population of 33,173, nanterre-Sud-Est canton has a population of 22,350. Nanterre-Sud-Ouest canton has a population of 28,758, Nanterre is served by three stations on RER line A, Nanterre – Préfecture, Nanterre – Université, and Nanterre – Ville. Nanterre – Université station is also a station on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line. Société Générale has its headquarters in the Tours Société Générale in La Défense, the company moved into the building in 1995. Faurecia, the sixth-largest automotive parts supplier, has its headquarters in Nanterre, groupe du Louvre and subsidiary Louvre Hôtels have their head office in Village 5 in La Défense and Nanterre. The rugby union club Racing 92, currently based in another Paris suburb, the venue, scheduled to open in September 2017, is tentatively known as U Arena. It will have a capacity of 32,000 for rugby and 40,000 for concerts, Nanterre is twinned with, La Défense business district
Nanterre
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La Défense
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Nanterre's twin towns sign.
23.
Tourism in Paris
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Tourism in Paris is a major income source for Paris and the city ranks in the worlds most visited cities. In 2013, the City of Paris welcomed 15.6 million international visitors, the Paris Region received 32.3 million visitors in 2013, putting it just ahead of London as the worlds top tourist destination region, measured by hotel occupancy. In the Paris region, the largest numbers of tourists came in order from Britain. In 2012,263,212 salaried workers in the city of Paris, or 18.4 percent of the number, were engaged in tourism-related sectors, hotels, catering, transport. In 2014 visitors to Paris spent 17 billion dollars, the third highest sum globally after London, the Eiffel Tower is acknowledged as the universal symbol of Paris and France. It was originally designed by Émile Nouguier and Maurice Koechlin, in March 1885 Gustave Eiffel, known primarily as a successful iron engineer, submitted a plan for a tower to the French Ministre du Commerce et de lIndustrie. He entered a competition for students studying at the university, the winning proposal would stand as the centerpiece of the 1889 Exposition. Eiffels was one of over 100 submissions, eiffels proposal was finally chosen in June 1886. Even before its construction, the Towers uniqueness was noticed, the Eiffel Tower was finally inaugurated on March 31,1889. Currently about 6.9 million people visit the Eiffel tower each year, Centre Georges Pompidou was officially opened on January 31,1977 by President Valéry Giscard dEstaing. The designers of Pompidou are Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers, the Centre Pompidou has had over 150 million visitors since 1977. Centre Georges Pompidou is a complex in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles, rue Montorgueil, in 1997 renovations had begun to drastically change the interior spaces of the Centre Pompidou. The renovation also developed the capacity to host the performing arts. The Arc de Triomphe de lÉtoile is one of the most famous monuments in Paris and it stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, at the western end of the Champs-Élysées. It should not be confused with an arch, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. The Arc de Triomphe is the linchpin of the historic axis – a sequence of monuments and grand thoroughfares on a route which goes from the courtyard of the Louvre, the Musée dOrsay is a museum in Paris, France, on the left bank of the Seine. It started to be constructed in 1897 and was designed by Gae Aulenti, Victor Laloux, the Musée dOrsay is an art museum for works from 1848 to 1914 and has an emphasis on French Impressionism artwork
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A
chimera of Notre-Dame
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The Eiffel Tower from the
Place du Trocadéro
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The Arc de Triomphe
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The Musée d'Orsay
24.
Landmarks in Paris
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This article presents the main landmarks in the City of Paris within its administrative limits divided by the 20 Arrondissements of Paris. Landmarks located in the suburbs of Paris, outside of its administrative limits, the 1st arrondissement forms much of the historic centre of Paris. The old Halles were demolished 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. The former Conciergerie prison held some prominent Ancien Régime members before their deaths during the French Revolution, the 2nd arrondissement of Paris lies to the north of the 1st. The Boulevard des Capucines, Boulevard Montmartre, Boulevard des Italiens, Rue de Richelieu, also of note are the Académie Julian, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Café Anglais and Galerie Vivienne. The 3rd arrondissement is located to the northeast of the 1st, Le Marais is a trendy district spanning the 3rd and 4th arrondissements. It is architecturally very well preserved, and some of the oldest houses and it is a very culturally open place, known for its Chinese, Jewish and gay communities. Several hotels are located in this district including Hôtel de Guénégaud, the 4th arrondissement is located to the east of the 1st. Place de la Bastille is a district of historical significance, for not just Paris. Bibliothèque de lArsenal, La Force Prison, Centre Georges Pompidou, roads running through the 4th arrondissement include Rue Charlemagne, Rue de Rivoli, Rue des Francs-Bourgeois, and Rue des Rosiers. It is known for its atmosphere and many bistros. The Panthéon church is where many of Frances illustrious men and women are buried, the 6th arrondissement, to the south of the centre and Seine has numerous hotels and restaurants and also educational institutions. Among the museums located in the 6th arrondissement are the Musée Bible et Terre Sainte, Musée dAnatomie Delmas-Orfila-Rouvière, Musée Dupuytren, and Musée Edouard Branly. A symbol of the Revolution are the two Statues of Liberty located on the Île aux Cygnes in the Luxembourg Garden of the 6th arrondissement and on the Seine between the 15th and 16th arrondissements. A larger version of the statues was sent as a gift from France to the United States in 1886, the Odéon-Théâtre de lEurope is located in this district, as is the Luxembourg Palace. The Pont des Arts, Pont Neuf, and Pont Saint-Michel bridges lead across the Seine to the historic centre, the 7th arrondissement lies to the southwest of the centre, across the Seine. The Eiffel Tower is the most famous landmark of the 7th arrondissement and it was a temporary construction by Gustave Eiffel for the 1889 Universal Exposition, but was never dismantled and is now an enduring symbol of Paris, instantly recognized throughout the World. The Axe historique is a line of monuments, buildings, many hotels are located in this district including Hôtel Biron, Hôtel de Castries, Hôtel de Conti, Hôtel de Mademoiselle de Condé, Hôtel du Châtelet, and Hôtel Matignon
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Panorama of the center city of Paris along the Seine river which shows some of its landmarks
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Boulevard des Capucines
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The Louvre
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The National Archives building of the
Museum of French History,
25.
Paris Bourse
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The Paris Bourse is the historical Paris stock exchange, known as Euronext Paris from 2000 onwards. The building, known as the Palais Brongniart, is located in the Place de la Bourse, in the II arrondissement, historically, stock trading took place at several spots in Paris, including rue Quincampoix, rue Vivienne, and the back of the Opéra Garnier. Brogniart had spontaneously submitted his project, which was a rectangular neoclassical Roman temple with a giant Corinthian colonnade enclosing a vaulted and arcaded central chamber and his designs were greatly admired by Napoleon and won Brogniart a major public commission at the end of his career. Initially praised, the building was attacked for academic dullness. The authorities had required Brogniart to modify his designs, and after Brogniarts death in 1813, Labarre altered them even further, from 1901 to 1905 Jean-Baptiste-Frederic Cavel designed the addition of two lateral wings, resulting in a cruciform plan with innumerable columns. According to the architectural historian Andrew Ayers, these alterations did nothing to improve the reputation of this uninspiring monument. From the second half of the 19th century, official stock markets in Paris were operated by the Compagnie des agents de change, the number of dealers in each of the different trading areas of the Bourse was limited. There were around 60 agents de change, in Paris, only agents de change could receive a commission, at a rate fixed by law, for acting as an intermediary. However, parallel arrangements were usual in order to some clients quote. The Commodities Exchange was housed in the building until 1889. Moreover, until about the middle of the 20th century, a market known as La Coulisse was in operation. Until the late 1980s, the market operated as an open outcry exchange, in 1986, the Paris Bourse started to implement an electronic trading system. This was known generically as CATS, but the Paris version was called CAC, by 1989, quotations were fully automated. The Palais Brongniart hosted the French financial derivatives exchanges MATIF and MONEP, in the late 1990s, the Paris Bourse launched the Euronext initiative, an alliance of several European stock exchanges. List of works by James Pradier External sculpture Lehmann, P. -J,1991 La Bourse de Paris, Paris, Dunod. 1997 Histoire de la Bourse de Paris, Paris, PUF, muniesa, F.2005 Contenir le marché, la transition de la criée à la cotation électronique à la Bourse de Paris, Sociologie du Travail 47, 485-501. Walker, D. A.2001 A factual account of the functioning of the nineteenth-century Paris Bourse, European Journal of the History of Economic Thought 8, 186-207. Foucault, T. and Hillion, P.1997 Microstructure des marchés financiers, institutions, modèles et tests empiriques, Paris, hamon, J.1995 Marché dactions, architecture et microstructure, Paris, Economica
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Palais Brongniart: exterior
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Palais Brongniart: interior
26.
Catacombs of Paris
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The Catacombs of Paris are underground ossuaries in Paris, France, which hold the remains of more than six million people in a small part of the ancient Mines of Paris tunnel network. Nightly processions of bones from 1786 to 1788 transferred remains from cemeteries to the reinforced tunnels, the Catacombs are among the 14 City of Paris Museums managed by Paris Musées since January 1,2013. The catacombs are known formally as lOssuaire Municipal or Catacombes officiels and have been called The Worlds Largest Grave due to the number of remains buried. Although the ossuary comprises only a section of the underground carrières de Paris. Paris earliest burial grounds were to the outskirts of the Roman-era Left Bank city. Thus, instead of burying its dead away from inhabited areas as usual, by the end of the same century Saints Innocents was neighbour to the principal Parisan marketplace Les Halles, and already filled to overflowing. To make room for more burials, the long-dead were exhumed and their bones packed into the roofs, much of the Left Bank area rests upon rich Lutetian limestone deposits. This stone built much of the city, but it was extracted in suburban locations away from any habitation, Paris had annexed its suburbs many times over the centuries, and by the 18th century many of its arrondissements were or included previously mined territories. This resulted in the creation of the inspection Générale des Carrières service, the need to eliminate Les Innocents gained urgency from May 30,1780, when a basement wall in a property adjoining the cemetery collapsed under the weight of the mass grave behind it. The cemetery was closed to the public and all intra muros burials were forbidden after 1780, the problem of what to do with the remains crowding intra muros cemeteries was still unresolved. Lenoir endorsed the idea of moving Parisian dead to the subterranean passageways that were renovated during 1782, after deciding to further renovate the Tombe-Issoire passageways for their future role as an underground sepulchre, the idea became law during late 1785. It would take two years to empty the majority of Paris cemeteries, cemeteries whose remains were moved to the Catacombs include Saints-Innocents, Saint-Étienne-des-Grès, Madeleine Cemetery, Errancis Cemetery, and Notre-Dame-des-Blancs-Manteaux. In addition to directing the stacking of skulls and femurs into the patterns seen in the catacombs today, also created was a room dedicated to the display of the various minerals found under Paris, and another showing various skeletal deformities found during the catacombs creation and renovation. Later they opened for daily visits. After an incident of vandalism, the Catacombs were closed to the public during September 2009, the entry to the catacombs is in the western pavilion of the former Barrière dEnfer city gate. Soon after, they find themselves before a stone portal, the ossuary entry, CEST İCİ LEMPİRE DE LA MORT. Beyond begin the halls and caverns of walls of carefully arranged bones, along the way there are other monuments created in the years before catacomb renovations, such as a source-gathering fountain baptised La Samaritaine because of later-added engravings. There are also rusty gates blocking passages leading to other parts of the catacombs – many of these are either un-renovated or were too un-navigable for regular tours
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Entrance to the Catacombs
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Crypt of the Sepulchral Lamp in the Catacombs of Paris
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Les Innocents cemetery in 1550.
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Map of former underground mine exploitations in Paris (1908).
